The Unexpected Rose
by theravenclawchaser
Summary: Rose begins her 6th year of Hogwarts feeling that her life is perfect, but then an encounter with a certain blonde haired Slytherin changes her life forever. Story is much better than summary. Rated T because I'm super cautious. Read and review please!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic (but don't let that stop you from reading!) and I would really love reviews. I don't want to be one of the authors that begs for them, but I would really appreciate feedback and _constructive _criticism (because I promise I have never said anything mean about you!). I will try to be quick about updating (I'm in the editing stage of the next nine chapters). **

**Enjoy :) **

Chapter One

"Rose, come on! We're gonna miss the train!" Albus yelled at her as she was saying her last goodbyes in King Cross Station.

"Now, be good sweetheart. Sixth year can get very stressful, so try not to be too hard on yourself." Her mother's kind eyes looked down on her as she gave her one last hug. Her Dad smiled at her.

"Now, I know it hard but try to watch over Hugo. We don't want as many letters from McGonagall as we got last year. He's starting to give Harry and I a run for our money." Ron's mischievous smirk started to creep onto his face.

"I'll try Dad, I promise." Rose said as she quickly gathered up her things.

"ROSE! Come _on_!" Albus whined as she rushed over to the doors.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She loaded onto the train only to get body slammed from every direction as she tried to find a compartment. She attempted to maneuver her way through the crowd and follow Al's quickly disappearing head. The sounds of parents yelling their last goodbyes mingled with the sound of the train beginning to move creating chaos. She must have banged into at least half of Hufflepuff house had her foot stepped on numerous times while she weaved her way through the horde of people. At last she squeezed her way into the compartment that held her fellow Gryffindors.

"Rose!" She heard a girl squeal before she was quickly engulfed in a massive hug.

"Mackenzie Finnegan let me go! I can't breathe!" Rose wiggled out of the bone-crushing embrace, trying to catch her breath. "God, is this my punishment for not seeing you over the summer?"

"No, it's your punishment for not writing enough!" Now that Rose stepped back, she saw that Mackenzie had gotten a little taller and a little tanner over the summer. Her freckles were more pronounced and her brown hair seemed lighter after spending most of her days outside. Her blue eyes were still full of joy as she sat down next to Rose. Albus was already sitting across from them with his girlfriend Olivia, who looked like her long blonde hair had gotten even longer and more beautiful over the summer.

"Congratulations on making prefect! We all knew you would though, of course." Olivia was really one of the sweetest girls Rose had ever met, and so she had to wonder why on earth she was dating her git cousin.

"Thanks! I thought it would have been you!" Rose said as she settled in for the journey.

"Me? Merlin no, my grades aren't high enough. Besides, you're a clear leader. You'll be great."

"Thanks! How was your summer, good?"

"Yes, very. I spent most of it in Italy; it was wonderful! I ate far too much food." This made Rose laugh. Olivia was tiny; to suggest she had actually gained any weight at all would be ridiculous.

At that moment Roxanne popped into the compartment. "Hullo everyone! Has anyone seen Lucy? I know she was with Molly trying to help her meet some other first years, but I'm not really sure where she went."

"Sorry Rox, but I haven't seen her since I saw Molly boarding the train," Mackenzie said. Roxanne rolled her eyes and said, "Great, now I have to go searching through the first year compartments."

"You know you're only two years old than them right?" Al reminded her.

"Yeah yeah," she yelled over her shoulder as she walked out.

"Hey", Al piped up "Have you seen Henry anywhere? He told me he would meet me here."

"That's weird, where else would he be sitting? _Oh my god!_ The prefect meeting!" Rose quickly bolted from her seat and ran down the hall. How on earth could she be late? She wasn't late for anything! Anything! And her mind chooses to be late for this! How could she had forgotten that the time to meet in the prefects cabin was extremely close to the departure! She should have written it down or something!

In her flustered state she wasn't paying attention to where she was going when she was looking at her watch and ran smack into someone.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She looked up to see whom it was only to find Scorpious Malfoy looking back at her.

It wasn't that she loathed Scorpious, she really didn't have a reason to, she just knew him from reputation alone.

The Malfoys' were probably the wizarding family that her father hated the most, and therefore the things he said about Scorpious' father Draco were absolutely dreadful. Even her mother, who tried to be nice to everyone, hated him. According to Ron, the entire family is horrible and that means all children Draco had will be just as bad. So you couldn't blame her for disliking him on the spot.

But it wasn't like he had ever been mean to her, or really anyone for that matter. She rarely saw him smile, even when surrounded by his friends, and she _never_ saw him laugh. Ever. He kept to himself mostly, with a few Slytherins for friends. Of course, all the girls found his reclusive behavior as another thing that made him even more attractive, as if being extremely hot and a star Quidditch player wasn't enough.

"Why in such a hurry Weasley?" He asked as he got up from the floor.

Rose rolled her eyes, "I'm late for a prefect meeting, and I have no time for you Malfoy." She continued racing down the hall.

He called after her, "You don't wear a watch, do you Weasley?"

She pivoted to face him, "No, why?"

"Because the prefect's meeting doesn't start for another five minutes." And then he did the most peculiar thing. He smiled. Scorpious Malfoy smiled at her. Of all people, why would he waste his once-a-year smile on her?

Rose felt herself going extremely red in the face. "Well then, I guess I'll take my time then." She set off again down the hall, Scorpious behind her. She turned around again to face him, "Let me guess, you're a prefect too?"

"Yeah. Why, surprised?" He asked, as if inviting her to challenge him. She had no idea how to respond to this. Why she surprised? No, he was smart. There was no denying that. Would she admit that? Never.

"Maybe." She smiled back and cocked an eyebrow at him. They carried out the last few feet of the journey in silence as they searched for the compartment. As they walked in she saw Henry, who appeared to have saved her a seat.

"Rose! How was your summer?" He asked as she sat down.

"Good, yours?"

"Fantastic! I've been working on my beating skills all summer; I think the team will be so much better this year. I know Albus has been working hard too. I've been working on this one move, where you hit the ball between the two chasers and then the…" Rose started to tune him out, like she did every time the boys started talking Quidditch. Really, you would think the world revolved around it the way they just went on and on and on about it. Her attention was snapped back when she heard the head boy starting to make announcements. Abut not long after he had started his speech she felt herself dozing off from a lack of sleep the night before. But when he started picking patrol partners she immediately became nervous. She did not want to be with that awful Slytherin girl who looked like she could murder you just with her eyes if she tried hard enough. Luckily, she was paired with a Ravenclaw boy who looked like he wanted to puke. But the others were quickly getting paired off: Henry and Katie, Jessica and Dan, Rose and… no. You had got to be kidding me.

"Rose and Scorpious. Yep, that covers everyone. So remember, you must report here 5 minutes before your shift starts. No exceptions." The head girl looked down at her piece of parchment one last time. "I think that's it. You all are free to go."

Rose walked down the hall in a sort of daze. How on earth did she get paired with Malfoy of all people? Better than the Slytherin girl though. She finally reached her compartment and sat down with Mackenzie.

"You look like you just saw a boggart, are you ok?" Mackenzie asked.

"Ugh, I have to patrol with Malfoy." She threw her head back in desperation.

"Oh come on, its not so bad." She turned to see that in her absence her other friend Rebecca Wood had joined the group.

"Becca, just because you think he's hot doesn't mean it will be fun patrolling with him." She said, frustrated that none of her friends were seeing the horror that had become her first day.

"So? Just stare at that body for a few hours, you'll change your mind." She said dreamily, staring off into the distance.

"Becca, you don't just stare at guys for hours on end, its stalkerish." Mackenzie said.

"Can we please change the conversation!" Albus pleaded.

"What, so we can talk about stupid Quidditch?" Rose replied

"Hey!" Albus, Becca, Mackenzie, and Henry said in unison.

"Sorry! Jeez." Rose rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, the hum of conversation in her ears. Slowly she found herself drifting off to sleep.

"Rose? Rose? Rose! Wake up!" She groaned and blinked her eyes to try and get rid of her foggy vision.

"Are we there yet?" She asked.

"No, but its time for your shift with Malfoy." Henry responded as she began to sit up. She began straightening herself out, running her fingers through her wavy deep auburn hair. Luckily she hadn't inherited the volume in her mother's hair, so it took her no time at all to flatten it out and get going. She met Scorpious in the prefect's compartment like planned and they headed out into the hall to begin their shift. They walked in silence, both not really sure what to say to one another. Normally, Rose would have done what she did to all Slytherins and start to argue with him. However, seeing Malfoy smile earlier caught her off her guard. Was this some sort of trap she was falling into? It seemed too strange to be nice to him. After all, wasn't it obvious that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't, and never will, get along? So she continued her walk in silence. Finally Scorpious decided to speak.

"So has your cousin been working on his quidditch plays all summer?"

"Yeah, non-stop. It looks like you've got some stiff competition. Al has done nothing but talk, breathe, eat, play, and live quidditch." Rose said with a smirk. For all the things she hated about quidditch, she loved being able to brag to the Slytherins about how good Al was. That was something they just couldn't deny, the entire Potter family were natural Quidditch players. It makes sense when your mother played for the Hollyhead Harpies and your father was Hogwarts quidditch legend that you are amazing at the game. Al was a chaser and Lily was a seeker, two of the best players on the team. James was a chaser too when he was on the team. But he'd graduated last year after being a very beloved captain.

"Yeah, yeah. Your cousins are good, and so is your brother. But I'm captain this year, so it goes without saying that we are going to win the cup." He said with smirk.

She snorted, "Oh please, if you were a little less cocky you might realize that you should be working your arse off before the Gryffindor game or you won't even get to see your precious cup."

"Since when do you care about quidditch Weasley?" He asked, still smirking.

"Since I grew up with a family who does. It wears off on you, it's like a disease." She clutched at her heart before beginning to laugh. "Personally, I don't get what all the fuss is about. Flying is terrifying, I don't know why anyone in their right mind would want to do it with balls being hurled at them in freezing temperatures. But hey, what do I know?"

They were laughing talking about how Rose's childhood memories of attempting flying (and almost dying in the processes) with James when they were interrupted by Goyle and another dark haired boy who Rose didn't recognize.

"Hey look who it is! It's Malfoy and the half mudblood. What a happy couple we have here!" Goyle taunted. "Say, what if see what her dueling skills are really like? I'd say a few minutes under the cruciatus curse ought to remind her where she belongs. What do you think Malfoy?"

"Get the hell out of here Goyle." Scorpious said, taking a step in front of Rose. "Did I stutter?" he snapped. "I said get the hell out of here. Go back to your compartment, and if I see you doing anything else on this train ride I'll take 50 points from Slytherin."

Goyle sneered, "You wouldn't take 50 points from your own house."

He glared back, "Watch me."

"Oh, so you've decided to be a blood traitor like her father? Fine, enjoy your dirt Malfoy. See you around Weasley." The two of them strutted away down the corridor and into their compartment, Scorpious not breaking his glare the whole time.

"I'm sorry about that," he mumbled while they finally lost of Goyle and his friend.

Rose was shocked, "Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault Goyle is so vile. I would expect nothing less from him." She took a deep sigh; she hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath. "Thank you for, well…" she mumbled and went red in the face.

"What?" He asked.

"Thank you for not joining their side. I mean, thank you for defending me. Not that I need someone to defend me, I'm perfectly fine by myself. But…" She started babbling. Damn, she always did this when she was nervous. Wait, why was she nervous? This is Malfoy we're talking about! But, this is Malfoy who just saved you from whatever Goyle was planning, which couldn't be good. "Just, thank you."

"You really thought I would join their side?" He sounded genuinely hurt. Who was this guy and what did he do with Scorpious? You know, the guy who never talked, never smiled, and never talked to anyone in Gryffindor house. What happened to him?

"I don't know. I know it probably not a fair thing to say, but you're a Slytherin. They don't exactly have the best reputation among muggle borns or blood traitors. And well… you are a Malfoy. Which again, I'm sorry, but my father doesn't have the most glowing reviews of your father." Well, that was the understatement of a century.

"If he did I would be shocked. My father was responsible for Snape killing Dumbledore. And played a pretty big part in killing Sirius Black, who I know was Harry's godfather. He was also a death eater. I don't know why your father would even say mediocre things about him. I don't even like my father, and he's my family."

"You don't?" Rose was stunned.

"How could I? He never spent any time with me growing up, and when he did it was only to talk about how I should view the world. Why should someone else tell you that? He raised me surrounded by lies. The only reason I'm not as horrible as my father is because I had a house elf to tell me what really happened during the war. My mother wasn't much better. We've never been close. If anything I think they will be happy when I leave at the end of the year, they won't have to think about me any more."

"That's awful." Rose whispered.

"That's life. You don't get to pick your family. It's ok though; I think I'll be a lot happier once I leave. I'll play their little games till the end of the year, and then go off and do something on my own." He finished, clearly wrapped up in his thoughts.

"Well, I'm sorry. About judging you on your family. It makes me no better than Goyle." Rose said.

"That doesn't make you a bad person Rose, everyone judges me based on my family. It's fine."

"No, it's not. I hate that people judge me because my mother is muggle born and my father is a 'blood traitor'. I couldn't think of a better family, and I hate that some people won't look past that to see who they really are. I'm sure it must be even worse for you. That makes me a hypocrite, and I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Really." He glanced at his watch. "Our shift is up."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. As strange as it was, she liked spending time with Scorpious. "Well, I guess I'll see you at the feast." She said, trying to fill the awkward silence.

"Yeah, ok. I'll see you then." Scorpious said before turning around and going back to him compartment. Rose walked towards her own and leaned against the wall before going in.

"What was _that_?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter is so short, the next one will be longer! _Please _review! **

Chapter Two

He could tell from their first shift the Rose Weasley was going to be a problem. Not the kind of problem you avoid like the plague, but a wonderful, funny, enjoyable problem.

Scorpious never had many real friends in Slytherin house. Most of the Slytherins either held huge grudges against his father or liked his father but knew that Scorpious was nothing like him. Either way, people tended to steer clear of Scorpious for the most part. The gang of Slytherin girls that were obsessed with him had to be avoided as well, which left him very few people to talk to in his house. Cade was ok, he didn't really care about who Scorpious' family was at all. He also talked to Travis some too; he wasn't so bad. But besides them he didn't have any other 'friends' in Slytherin house.

As he sat down in the great hall he thought about Rose. Rose Weasley, a girl who he really hadn't given much thought to at all these past six years, was going to cause a lot of trouble for him this year. He could feel it. They were already patrolling partners for at least half of this semester, maybe the whole thing. That meant he would have to spend at least one day a week with her after hours alone, which meant they would actually have to talk to one another. He already liked her; no one ever smiled at him like she did. He felt himself wanting to be friends with her. And he had told more to her on the train about his family than he had ever told anyone at Hogwarts. But being friends with a Gryffindor? Not that he really cared what other people thought, but would she? _I'm getting ahead of myself_, he thought. _Relax; just let whatever will happen, happen. That's all you can do. _

He finished the feast and listened to McGonagall give them pointless beginning of term reminders. He hardly listened, he was just waiting for when he would have to escort the first years to the Slytherin common room. He drummed his fingers on the table and glanced around the hall. The first years looked much more relaxed after sorting. He remembered being terrified his first day too, wondering where they would put him. The sorting hat practically had a conversation with him about it, saying he wasn't like his father but he still thought Scorpious belonged in Slytherin. That was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences he ever had.

Finally she finished her speech and told the prefects to go to their common rooms. He went over to the first years and herded them like sheep through the great hall and down to the dungeons. Most of them moved at a slug like pace, watching the moving portraits and the stairs. When they eventually got to the common room he was glad to be rid of them and went back up to Professor McGonagall's office for the prefects own announcements. When he walked up to the Gargoyle and gave it the password he realized that he must be the last one there. Sure enough, they were all waiting for him to arrive.

"Sorry, the first years were really slow." He mumbled as he took the last available seat, which happened to be next to Rose.

"That's alright Mr. Malfoy, lets begin. There are no major or pressing issues for you to worry about, I simply want you to maintain order this year. You will each be assigned a night to patrol, I believe your heads have assigned partners already." She took a deep sigh before continuing; she looked exhausted. "If I find out you have been abusing your power to take away points without reason or are not meeting your patrol duties, you will face very serious punishment and possibly lose your badge. This is not a position to be taken lightly." She gave one of her signature glares. "So I suppose I will leave it to your heads to give you assigned dates and then you all may go."

"Ok, Rose and Scorpious, you take Monday. Henry and Katie take Wednesday, Jessica and Dan take Friday, and that leaves you guys with Sunday. We'll take the days in between." Mandy said.

The group slowly got up from their chairs and began to head out the door. This day was beginning to fell like an eternity. He looked for Rose, but she was already talking to Henry when saw her. Oh well, he would have all of prefect duty to talk to her. He headed back to his room and fell asleep almost immediately, desperately needing to clear his head.

"Rose! Settle something for me." Lily yelled as Rose entered the common room. Oh Merlin, this was never a good thing.

"What Lily?" Rose asked, really not wanting to deal with her cousin at the moment.

"Hugo likes this Ravenclaw girl," she began.

"I do not!" Hugo said, his face turning bright red.

"That's not the point." Lily shot back. "Tell him that girls don't like boys who refuse to talk to them!" Lily exclaimed, absolutely livid. Her face was almost as red as her flaming hair.

Rose stared at her, very confused. "Well, as true as that is, I don't get what the big deal is." Rose said.

"Believe me, neither do I." Hugo muttered as he flopped down on one of the couches.

"I'm just saying that if boys don't communicate their feelings how on earth are we supposed to how to act around them! It's not fair, they can't shut themselves up like that!" Lily looked like she was about ready to cry.

"What did Collin say?" Rose asked as she sat down into a large, comfy armchair.

"Nothing. That's just it, he tells me he wants to be my boyfriend on the last day of the semester last year, then doesn't bother to write all summer, then asks why I never wrote him and do I want to be in a relationship? He can't just _do_ that! It's not fair to make me get over him and then make me get all upset, its just not!" Rose was happy the common room was practically empty; otherwise she knew she would have gotten some strange looks.

"Lily, do you still want to be with him?" Rose asked softly.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I don't know. I spent half of the summer convincing myself I didn't need him after he did write. I thought he didn't care. I mean, does he even care? He didn't bother to write all summer! That's not what you do when you're thinking about a person! Do I mean anything to him?"

"Lil, you need to ask him those questions, not me. He's a good guy; he'll want to talk to you about this. If he doesn't then you really don't want to be with him anyway." Rose said gently, trying not to make her more upset.

"You're right. You're right. I'll find him in the morning. Thanks Rosie." She got up to go to her room. As she was climbing the stairs, she turned around. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you Hu, but you really should go for it. She seems like a good fit for you." She turned around and continued up the stairs.

"Women," Hugo said with a dramatic roll of the eye. "Forget them, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Rose." He yawned as he too went up the stairs.

Rose sat there, staring at the fire. What a first day this has been, first a stampede, then a bone-crushing hug, then a new…(friend? No, acquaintance?) ..issue, then almost attacked, then rescued, then controlling 1st years, and now dealing with love sick cousins. She couldn't pick just one thing to think about, so she just slowly drifted to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! I've only gotten one review for the last two chapters (which still made my day so thank you!) but please guys, can I get some feedback? I would really appreciate it! **

Chapter 3

Waking up in the common room, bags unpacked, robes a mess, and breath horrible is never a fun experience. It wasn't the first time this had happened; she'd fallen asleep numerous times while studying late for an exam. But still, waking up the next morning to some random person shaking you was never enjoyable. She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up as she went upstairs to find new robes before heading down to breakfast. On her way up the stairs though she ran into Rebecca.

"Where were you yesterday? You left with the first years and then never came back! What did they do, confund you or something?" She asked, her usual too awake in the morning self.

"No, I was exhausted and fell asleep in the common room. Some second year just woke me up." She yawned and continued up the stairs.

"I'll meet you for breakfast!" Becca yelled up at Rose before heading down the stairs. Rose walked into her familiar room, popped open her trunk, and started rummaging through it. She threw on the first things she could find and went down to join the others in the Great Hall. She was walking towards the Gryffindor table when she saw Albus' face. Knowing that she was about to get interrogated, she took a deep breathe before sitting down.

"Why did you fall asleep in the common room last night?" Albus asked, looking concerned but a little bit shocked.

"I was so tired and the fire was so soothing, I just drifted off to sleep. Had a lot on my mind I guess."

"What on earth could be on your mind? It's only the second day back! You have no assignments to be worried about, no tests to be studying for, and no drama to be overwhelmed by."

"So? You can think of a lot more than just those things you know." Rose protested.

"Like what?" He asked. Rose looked at Lily across the table. She looked a lot better than she had last night.

"Al, drop it." Lily said as she glanced at the Daily Prophet.

"You never told us how patrolling with Scorpious was yesterday," said Rebecca. "Was it really as bad as you thought it would be?"

"No, it was fine." She said, trying to sound nonchalant while sipping her pumpkin juice.

"Took my advice then, did you?" She said with a wink.

"No!" Rose said, realizing how red in the face she was. "It just wasn't dreadful." Actually, it wasn't dreadful at all. It was kind of fun. She found herself looking forward to her patrol that night more than she intended to.

"Can you pass me the toast Rose?" Mackenzie asked. Soon the conversation turned to Quidditch try-outs and Rose tuned out of it entirely. Who would want to waste a free half an hour talking about Quidditch?

As breakfast ended she went to her first class of the day, Herbology. Professor Longbottom was waiting with another strange, rather dangerous looking plant (which everyone had simply come to expect from him). She sat at her usual table with Mackenzie, Becca, Olivia, Henry, and Al. They ended up working with Fanged Geraniums, something Rose would be perfectly fine never seeing again in her lifetime. When class was done many students had various scratches here or there from where their protective gear had proved to be not enough. Rose spent the rest of her classes finding new scratches and trying to heal them herself. But by the time dinner finally rolled around, she was looking much improved and feeling better too.

"I can't believe it's the first day back and we already have a potions essay. That can't be legal!" Al complained as he sat down to begin plowing through his food. "We have quidditch to worry about!"

Ugh, boys. All they do is think about quidditch.

"I know, it absolutely ridiculous. How am I going to focus on the new plays I was trying out when I have all this other work to do?" Becca added. Ok, so not just boys. Her own best friend was taken over by the quidditch beast. It was in these moments that she sought out Olivia, because she had never really been one for quidditch discussions.

She glanced around the Great Hall, "So, what do you think of Ben in Ravenclaw house?" she asked coyly.

"I dunno. He seems like a nice bloke. Why?" Rose asked.

"Well," she leaned in closer to Rose. "I couldn't help but notice that he's been staring at you for the past two meals. I mean really staring. But don't look!" It was too late; Rose had already turned to see that Ben's eyes were indeed fixated on the back of her head.

"So what, you think he's interested in me?" Rose asked while she bit into a piece of bread.

"He does seem to be rather fascinated with you. He was looking at you all through Herbology too. See how many scratches he has?" It was true; Ben was covered in them. But she had never imagined herself going out with Ben. Even though he was cute. And nice. And had a sense of humor. Quite frankly he would be considered a great match for Rose. But Rose wasn't even looking for a boyfriend. Maybe she was being ridiculous, Ben was a great guy and she should be excited that he was interested in her. Maybe she's just too exhausted to think about it.

The rest of the evening went on like this, everyone talking about quidditch except for herself and Olivia. She loved talking with Olivia, but sometimes hearing her talk about her cousin made Rose a bit nauseous. It was very strange talking to Olivia about how serious she thought the relationship was. But, Olivia was one of the nicest girls in Gryffindor house and Rose liked her a great deal, so she tried to be supportive.

After dinner the students returned to their respective houses and began to study (many complaining about the amount of first day homework) and Rose set off for the library to get some last minute studying in before meeting Scorpious for their patrol. She managed to get through at least half her homework and help Hugo with his, because he slept through his history of magic class. So typical of him.

When she finally realized it was time to go she left her things with Hugo and asked him just to give them to Mackenzie. She then set off to find Scorpious in their meeting place, outside McGonagall's office. She glanced at a clock on her way down the hall and realized she was running a few minutes late, so she broke into a light jog trying to make it before she was too tardy. As she turned the corner she saw him, smirking in the shadows.

"Forget to wear a watch again?" He asked, clearly amused.

She rolled her eyes in response. "I was helping Hugo with some homework, I lost track of time. I'm only seven minutes late."

"Well, lets get started then." He said as they set off down the corridor. It was strange walking around the castle at night; Rose couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't supposed to be there. At first they were quiet, remarking on frivolous things like weather. Again to her surprise, it was Malfoy who broke the silence.

"So I told you about my family last time we were patrolling. Tell me about yours." He said as their shoes made clicking noises against the stone.

"My family? Well, it's big. Obviously you know my parents and my brother Hugo. And then there are my cousins Lily, James, Albus, Molly, Lucy, Fred, Roxanne, Victoire, Dominique, and Louis. Plus all my aunts and Uncles. And my grandparents. It makes for big family reunions." She finished, trying to remember if she had forgotten anyone.

"Yeah, no kidding." He said. "Do you like it though, having such a big family?"

She paused for a moment, "Yes. I do. I mean, it's all I've ever known. But it's nice to know you have that many people who care about you, you know?" Rose stopped herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, it's fine. I'm not the type to feel sorry for myself." He said plainly. Rose couldn't imagine it, growing up in a house where no one cares.

"Do you ever wonder what your life wouldn't have been like if you weren't a Malfoy?" She whispered.

"All the time." He whispered back. A comfortable silence grew between them, each in their own thoughts.

"Is Lily ok by the way? I saw her next to you at dinner last night. She looked pretty upset." Rose couldn't believe it, she didn't even notice Lily was upset, but Scorpious did. How was that possible?

"She ok. She's just having some boy problems." Rose sighed.

"Oh? Who with?" He asked.

Rose hesitated, "I'm not sure if I should tell you."

"Why?" He asked point blank. "You can trust me."

Three days ago she would have never ever thought she could trust Scorpious. But looking into his earnest grey eyes, she felt at ease. She felt safe.

"It's just this guy Collin in Ravenclaw. She doesn't know where they stand. They each seem to have different ideas about what kind of a relationship they're in and neither one will talk to the other about it."

Scorpious nodded, "Well, I'm sorry about Lily." He said.

"Thanks. She'll be fine, she was just really upset that night. I think she was feeling very fed up."

Rose continued to tell him more about her family, things she never talked with to other people. Or at least, not in the same way. She felt she could be so honest with him; something about the way he listened to her was so soothing. She in turn heard more about his life, his childhood. She found herself laughing in a way she hadn't for days at his well-told stories of growing up with his father. By the time they were done patrolling she was extremely sad to be leaving him. He offered to walk her up to Gryffindor tower, so they got a few more minutes in together. When they reached the portrait hole they said a slightly awkward goodnight and went their separate ways. She wandered into the common room and up the stairs to her dorm, where everyone was beginning to get ready for bed.

"What's that smile doing on your face?" asked Becca with her signature grin. Mackenzie came up on her other side.

"What ever happened to loathing patrolling with Malfoy?" she questioned with a rather ridiculous smile plastered to her face as well.

"I'm just so happy it over!" Rose lied, grinning wider for emphasis. Weather they believed her or not she will never know, because at that point one of the fifth years let off some kind of explosion below them and the topic was dropped. However she felt the smile tugging at her lips, trying to creep back onto her face. She just couldn't shake the warm fuzzy feeling even as she began to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! I'm trying to get as many chapters done as possible before I go back to school, so here is chapter four! Thank you so much for reading, but I would love you even more if you review! But I would settle for you adding this to your alerts... :)**

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 4

The next few weeks were wonderful for Rose. The weather was beautiful, the crisp fall air making her feel alive and refreshed. Her classes, although hard, were fascinating to her. Her friends were in high spirits, despite the new pressure put upon them given the beginning of the quidditch season. And it felt very good to be back at Hogwarts, her home away from home. But what really made the first month of school wonderful was the last thing she could have ever expected. She found herself looking forward to Monday nights and replaying conversations between herself and a certain Slytherin in her head. In a very unusual way, Scorpious Malfoy had become one of her best friends.

She found herself confiding in him all the time about her problems, her worries, and her fears. She found herself laughing with him harder than she normally did and wanting to hear his laugh as well. Although the friendship was rather shocking even to her, it was one that she valued now immensely.

But she was the only one who understood her newfound happiness. They had decided it would be better for both their houses to keep their friendship somewhat of a secret. They would simply be acquaintances; trying to keep peace between them because of the time they were 'forced' to spend together. It was pretty convincing as cover stories go.

As for the smile that Rose seemed to always wear, her friends believed it had to do with Ben. Ben had been trying to talk with her more and more after the first few days of school. It was clear to Rose now that he liked her, but just couldn't figure out how to tell her. So instead he played the 'friend wanting to become something more' role, which was fine for her. Honestly she wasn't even thinking about having a boyfriend. After watching Lily work out what was happening with Collin, she felt that boys were far more trouble than they were worth.

That Monday night she was talking with Scorpious like normal, when suddenly they heard snogging from one of the broom closets. It wasn't unusual for them to come across couples trying to sneak out after hours, in fact it happened every time they patrolled. It was somewhat awkward for Rose and Scorpious, but they were beginning to get used to it. Scorpious walked over to the door and opened it up.

"Goyle, fifteen points from Slytherin. Fifteen for you too Joan. Go back to Slytherin house now before I have to deduct anything else." As Goyle's face came into few Rose could tell he was clearly not happy about the situation. Personally Rose couldn't fathom why anyone would want to snog Joan, she was a horrible person, and therefore when Goyle drew his wand against Scorpious Rose was a little surprised. Instinctively she reached for her wand as well, but stopped herself before pulling it out. If this turned into a duel in the hallway it would go very badly.

"What if I say no Malfoy? Hm? What if I curse you and your little girlfriend and continue on? Can't take points then, can you little prefect?" Goyle got a menacing gleam in his eye that made Rose's stomach flop.

"Get the hell out of here Goyle, I'm not messing around." Scorpious said, taking a step towards him.

Goyle snorted, "You're a blood traitor too now, aren't you Malfoy?" He glared at Rose before turning back to Scorpious. "Someday you'll realize where you really belong, and when you do you better get your loyalties in track. Because if I run across you again, I won't spare you." Goyle turned away from them and walked away down the hall with Joan on his heals, not allowing Scorpious to say another word. Rose felt the adrenaline rush through her, making her feel rather nauseous.

She collapsed against a wall and ran her hands through her hair. Why does this sort of thing always seem to happen to her? The cool stone felt good against her flushed face. She took deep steady breaths trying to calm herself down. Scorpious seemed equally disturbed, pacing slowly on the other side of the hall. She heard him cursing under his breath. Quickly and unexpectedly, he turned to face her.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"For what could you possibly be sorry for?" She asked, a little stunned.

He took a deep breath and began pacing again. "I should have hexed him or something. Anything. Instead of standing there like a dolt and waiting for him to attack you. It was a complete…" he trailed off, clearly switching to internal dialog. "Well, I'm sorry."

Rose began to smile comfortingly. "That ridiculous. If you attacked you know that McGonagall would have gotten you into serious trouble. And not to mention it would begin a duel that wouldn't end well. Really, I'm happier you didn't."

Silence was thick all around them as they were each enveloped in their own thoughts. How on earth could he possibly feel responsible for that? Why was he so upset about not being able to protect her? She could protect herself just fine; he knew that.

When did her life get so complicated?

Scorpious felt horrible.

He was a coward. A complete coward. What had stopped him from defending Rose? Did he feel some sort of sub-conscious devotion to his house and therefore the people in it? No, that was absurd. He hated Goyle. That was obvious.

So why, Merlin, why had he not been able to do anything, hex him, deduct more points. Anything but just stand there watching him walk away.

He could tell Rose noticed how upset he was; she tried to console him through the rest of their patrol. But he couldn't stand it. He had to do something, anything, to redeem himself. Then he decided; he would never let Goyle get near Rose.

It was clear he was going to want revenge. Scorpious had heard him bragging about Joan in the common room, he would defiantly be upset that his night got interrupted. And taking it out on Rose would be a clear choice of revenge, not only would he retaliate but he would also get stroke points from his family for hurting a Weasley. The thought of it made his blood boil.

"Rose," he said before leaving to go to his own common room. "I want you to know, I won't let him hurt you." He said boldly.

"What?" Asked Rose, an incredulous look on her face.

"He'll be out for revenge, and he'll probably go looking for you. But I want you to know, I would let him near you."

"Scorpious," she said softly, her eyes going wide. She seemed to recover herself. "I am a big girl, I can take care of myself. Really, I'll be fine" she paused, looking him over. "Goodnight Scorpious." She said softly before heading off to her common room.

"Goodnight Rose."


	5. Chapter 5

**Good morning everyone! I'll make this short, but I wanted to quickly thank Avanell and Swimchick1614 for reviewing yesterday! You guys made my day, so thank you! But I know that there are more people are reading this story so please, please, please review! **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 5

After that Rose was cautious during times where she would have to be with Goyle. Not a paranoid cautious, but on her guard just incase. Scorpious on the other hand had become rather protective of her, always trying to step between the two of them during classes. It was a surprise that none of her friends had noticed this at all, but then again none of them even knew she was friends with Scorpious.

October rolled around and things became less cheery. Her classes were getting harder and teachers finding new ways to give them more work. Her friends were becoming increasingly more stressed due to the upcoming Ravenclaw match in November, and therefore were sometimes snappy with her. The beautiful weather that had once encouraged her was now getting cold and she found herself shivering when she tried to study by the lake. All and all everything was getting worse, except for Scorpious.

Once again she found herself thinking of him more often, wishing he were a Gryffindor so they could spend more time together. He was the only one she seemed to be able to have a conversation with where she didn't have to avoid certain topics. It was liberating and wonderful to pour her thoughts and ideas out into another person and have them return her with theirs.

It wasn't like Rose didn't have great friends, she did. She had Mackenzie, Olivia, Henry, Lily, Hugo, Albus, and Becca as best friends and many other good friends as well. But for some strange reason she found herself looking forward to her talks with him more than she did any other of her best friends.

As she was thinking through this at breakfast she realized Mackenzie was snapping her finger in front of her.

"Rose. Rose, snap out of it." She said. Rose shook her head quickly, as if trying to shake off her daze.

"Sorry, I zoned out. What were you saying?" She asked innocently.

"You seem to be zoning out a lot these days," Becca added. "Could it be due to a certain Ravenclaw? Perhaps, a certain Ravenclaw named Ben?" She smirked as she sipped her pumpkin juice.

By now the girls knew about Ben's interest in Rose. How could they not? He tried talking to her in every class they shared, and offered to walk her to her next one. She liked Ben; he was a nice bloke. Rose smiled coyly, "I don't know whatever you could mean."

Albus' head snapped up, "Woah woah woah, slow down. You're snogging Ben now?" He asked, astonished.

Rose immediately felt her cheeks getting very warm. "I'm not snogging anyone!" She blurted out. "We're not even going out."

"Yeah, but she'd like to!" Mackenzie said in a sing songy voice much to Rose's misery.

"Really, Ben? Hm, I could see that I guess." Henry said as he grabbed another helping of the eggs. "I do see you guys talking a lot. He seems like a good enough bloke. I'm happy for you Rose."

"Um, not to burst any bubbles, but I'm not even going out with him yet!" Rose exclaimed.

Becca turned around to look at the Ravenclaw table, "Well, the first Hogsmede visit is next week after Halloween. I bet he'll ask you." She said.

"Ok then, lets bet. I say that he'll ask her out before the end of the week. Today is Wednesday, so that gives me until Friday." Albus said. "Anyone else want to join in?"

"I think he'll ask you somewhere in the last few days before the trip." Mackenzie said. "He's shy, he'll wait till he has to." She said with a shrug.

"He'll ask her on Halloween," Olivia said. Everyone stared at her with expressions of disbelief on their faces. "What? It's romantic to ask someone out on a holiday."

"Yeah, but Halloween? That's like asking someone out at a funeral. No, he'll probably do it over the weekend while she's in the library. Something simple." Henry said.

"What are you all talking about?" Lily asked as she slid in next to them.

"When Ben will ask Rose out." Becca said nonchalantly.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Guys can we please stop talking about it!"

"We're all making bets. I'm guessing he won't get up the courage and instead he'll end up hanging out with her for most of the day anyway. Oh! Or, he'll ask her, then get nervous, and say it's as friends." Becca said.

"Ah, that's creative!" Lily said. "Hm, well can I go with a place? Like, where he will ask her out?"

"Sure, fine with me." Al shrugged his shoulders.

"The library. Hands down. She's always there and I see him staring at you through the bookcases. It's really cute." She added.

"Is there anyone else who'd like an opinion on my love life? Anyone?" Rose asked in an exasperated tone when everyone fell quiet.

"What about your love life?" Ben asked, who was standing behind her. Of course this would happen to her. Of course.

"Nothing, they were just… teasing me." She said, her face going cherry red. Damn she hated genetics. "Um, so…" she said, not really knowing why he was there.

"Oh, you borrowed my herbology notes from when you missed the first few minutes of class and I just wanted to know if I could have them back." He said, also looking a bit flushed.

"Of course, here let me get them for you." She quickly rummaged through her bag, attempting to find them. Why had she inherited her father's organizational skills and not her mother's? She found lots of things; random pieces of paper, pictures that were faded, oddly shaped packets of who knows what, a bag of candy from last year, her potions essay, but no Herbology notes. Finally she found them after a long and very awkward search.

"Here you go!" She flattened them out on the table. "Er, sorry they're a bit rumpled. They somehow fell out of my folder." She added, apologetically.

"It's no problem." He flashed her a smile before leaving the Great Hall.

"Yep, I'm gonna win." Al said as he got up from the table and followed Ben out of the Great Hall.

"No cheating Al!" Lily yelled after him.

But sure enough, later that day Ben found her after class.

"Hey, can I walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?" He asked as he jogged up behind her.

"Of course," She smiled at him and slowed down.

"Listen Rose," he cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you might want to come to Hogsmede with me this weekend." He stared intensely at his feet.

"You mean like, as a date?" Rose asked, instantly regretting it.

His eyes grew a little wide with fear. "Yeah, as a date."

"I'd love to." She said, feeling her own ears began to go as red as his.

He quickly broke out into a broad smile, "Great! It's a date then! Oh shoot. Listen, I have to go, I realized I left my textbook back in the greenhouse, but I'll catch up with you later!" He left, still with the ridiculous grin on his face.

"Ok! Sure, I'll see you then." She awkwardly waved goodbye and continued down the hall. She hadn't gone as much as three feet when Mackenzie and Becca rushed up behind her.

"He asked you! He asked you!" Becca squealed while Mackenzie jumped up and down.

"Really, it's not that big a deal guys!" Rose said, but still couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"He asked you, he asked you, he asked you, he asked you!" They seemed to sing as they twirled around down the corridor. For what felt like the 100th time this day Rose felt herself beginning to redden.

"Please, stop it." She begged as they continued to chant.

They giggled, "What? You can't blame us if we're far too excited!"

"But you realize you both lost. To Al." She reminded them.

They stopped in their tracks. "Oh your right. Damn him, I bet he cheated. Where is he? Al!" Mackenzie yelled down the hall.

"There he is!" Becca yelled. The two girls quickly were off in hot pursuit of Al to find out weather he was the lying scoundrel they clearly thought he was. Rose laughed and continued into the common room, dropping off her things before heading off to dinner.

"So I hear Al won the bet! Congratulations!" Olivia said before Rose even had a chance to sit down.

"Thanks." Rose said meekly. She wasn't used to everyone talking about her like this.

"So Rosie, I'm thinking I need to give him a big brother talk. You know, cus James isn't here to do it for you." Al said as he plowed into a massive helping of food.

"Please don't Al. I'm begging you, please don't."

He just laughed, "Henry, you want to join me? My threat to beat him up might be more valid if I had you with me. You know, you being a beater and all. You just would seem more intimidating."

The boys went on taunting Rose about their 'big brother' speech, Al clearly having far too much fun with his cousin's love life. She couldn't get him to shut up all through dinner and had to settle for escaping him during her study hour at the library. She was deep into her history of magic textbook when she saw that she was practically alone in the library, everyone else had returned to his or her common rooms. That is, everyone except Scorpious. He was levitating his quill up and down, clearly dazed from too much work.

"You know that essay won't write itself." She told him from across the room.

"I'm almost half way through the beginning. That's plenty of progress for one night." He smiled at her.

"I suppose." She said playfully as she pretended to read her book.

"Say, why don't you take a walk with me. Clear our heads a bit?"

"It's after hours, we could get in serious trouble." She reminded him as she closed her heavy hardback.

"Well, we can't go on the grounds, but I don't consider the astronomy tower on the grounds." He said mischievously as he gathered up his things. "Come on, you work too hard sometimes."

She bit her lip, "Well ok. But only for a little bit, I really need to be getting more sleep."

"You won't regret it!" He said, winking at her. She followed him out of the library and through the halls, winding their way over to the astronomy tower. She knew they really weren't supposed to be there, but she didn't care. Scorpious was right; she needed a break.

They climbed up the last flight of stairs and immediately felt the chilly October wind upon them. Rose felt herself shivering as they sat down on the floor to stare up at the stars.

"Are you cold?" He asked her, probably watching her lips turn blue.

"A little," she said, her laugh shaky.

"Here," he wrapped his arms around her. They were warm and comforting, and his touch sent a shiver up her spine. It must just be the cold, she told herself. But she couldn't help but notice how strong he was, how wonderful it felt to be enfolded in his arms. She gazed up at the sky.

"Look! It's Scorpious." She said, smiling at the constellation.

"Do you even take Astronomy?" he asked her.

"No, why?"

"Just curious. Your far too brilliant Rose." He said softly.

She felt herself blush and hid her face in her auburn hair. "Thanks," she mumbled, not quite knowing what to say.

"So why do you seem so stressed today?" He asked, looking down on her.

She sighed deeply, "I guess it's because Ben from Ravenclaw asked me to go to Hogsmede with him next weekend," she admitted.

"Really?" He said. "Are you happy?"

"Yes. Maybe. Sort of." She hesitated, "I don't know." She took a long breath of the cold air. "I mean, I like him. He's a nice bloke. And he's the right kind of person for me, I guess. But I feel like I should be more excited, but I'm not. I just never thought about him in that way before. I think I'm still getting used to it."

Scorpious was very quiet, especially for him. He always seemed to have advice to give her. What was wrong?

"Well? What do you think?" Rose questioned.

"If you're happy, then I'm happy for you." He said in a tight voice.

"I think I'm happy." She said quietly.

"Well, then I think I'm happy for you." He whispered. The two of them sat in silence for a while before agreeing it was time to go back and get some sleep in. They left for their dorms and said a quick goodnight, but Rose couldn't shake the feeling she had that something had changed. That her life had suddenly become a bit more complicated. It wasn't the first time she felt like this, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Never the less, she was worried about what was to come and was surprised when she managed to fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! I realized I have yet to do this, so incase there was a doubt in anyone's minds:**

**I do not, never have, and sadly never will own anything (well, I supposed I own my O/Cs but I don't own some of their parents). This belongs to the amazing J. K. Rowling and I (again, sadly) am making absolutely no profit from this. **

**That being said, I want to thank my fabulous reviewers! I love you all very very much and your reviews make me want to write this even more, and I cannot thank you enough for that. **

**But to all of you who aren't reviewing, please do so! It will probably take less than a minute of your time, but it will make my whole day :)**

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 6

Halloween was (for the most obvious reason) the favorite holiday of Al, Lily, Hugo, and Roxanne. Every year they planned a different prank for Halloween, and it was always one of their favorite pranks of the year because they tried to make it holiday themed. For example, last year they enchanted the ceiling to pour candy down on the table during the middle of McGonagall's speech (one of their most popular pranks yet) or another year they set up a school wide black out for two hours (with much help from Uncle George, but still very impressive). Somehow they still hadn't been officially 'caught' because the professors have no evidence against them besides word of mouth. They had been punished for doing other things, but the Halloween prank was always the one they got away with. The night of the 30th Lily, Al, Hugo, and Roxanne were in the corner of the Gryffindor common room huddled around what Rose was certain was the Marauder's Map.

The map was a major discussion (although Rose didn't know this) among the parents. When Teddy was entering his first year anyone who had something to do with the map was called in for a meeting at the burrow to decide what to do with it. Harry came up with the solution that ended up being known as 'The Marauder Plan', which went like this: The oldest child of Weasley, Potter, or Lupin decent has possession of the map. However, any child in the Weasley, Potter, or Lupin family may ask for the map and the eldest child must share it with them. This seemed to make everyone happy and it began a fun ritual where the night before your first day of Hogwarts you would get the secrets of the map revealed to you.

They were probably mapping out the best route to get to the Great Hall after hours if Rose could guess. At one point Molly came up to figure out what they were doing and the four of them quickly shooed her away. Rose tried to turn back to her book but she found herself glancing up at them every few minutes.

Rose had never shown much interest in participating in the pranks because she was worried about getting in trouble (although Al really wanted her brainpower to be apart of the team). But now that she was a prefect she was stuck between wanting to do something a little reckless just to say she did _something_ interesting in her childhood, but at the same time not wanting to jeopardize her prefect status. No, she told herself, you don't really want to be apart of that. You just want a distraction. Yes, a distraction.

Well distraction came in the form of the next evening's feast. The whole school was gathered in the Great Hall, buzzing about what the famous team of pranksters would do this year, and the rumors that were flying were way off. Rose could tell that they were clearly just gossip; they lacked the style and originality of a Weasley-Potter Prank. Rose was fully expecting them to do something during McGonagall speech (and McGonagall looked like she did too) but nothing came. Then the group started dinner but again, nothing came. She sipped her butter beer and let it coat her throat, soothing it from talking over everyone's loud discussions. Rose was beginning to think that they hadn't planned one this year at all, because the desert was coming up and nothing had happened. But as she reached to take a bite of her pumpkin pie Lily pulled her fork away from her mouth.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she winked at her and Rose knew they had put something in the pie. Of course, how had she not seen it before? The pumpkin pie was the favorite dish from the Halloween Feast, it closed it out ever year. To do something they had already done before would seem so obvious and bland compared to throwing everyone off their guard and surprising them at the last minute. Everyone started digging into their pies, taking massive bites and chatting about how delicious it was and how it was the best pie they had ever tasted. At first everyone was able to eat their pies without any knowledge of what was to come. But about three minutes into it, a Slytherin boy burst into laughter. Soon everyone was either laughing hysterically or shrieking in horror as his or her hair turned orange. Not the trademark Weasley ginger color, but bright 'pumpkin' orange. Rose immediately burst out into laughter at the sight of her Professors' new hair color and their attempts to get the spell off. But there was no way it would work, just watch the smirk on Roxanne's face was enough to know that it was an unbreakable charm and would come off when she was satisfied. Uncle George would be very proud of her right now, seeing the look of victory on her face. Oh lord, when Fred gets here next year McGonagall won't know what hit her. Although she didn't look pleased about her hair color she wasn't too concerned about trying to help certain faculty members with theirs. Eventually she told everyone to go back to his or her houses for the night. Rose got up and walked out the hall when she saw Scorpious with bright orange hair. She giggled as she walked up besides him.

"You should try orange more often. I think it's your color." She teased him as she walked passed.

"How long is this gonna last Weasley?" He asked in a slightly pleading tone.

"How should I know?" She called back and winked over her shoulder.

Well apparently the answer was until Saturday because for the rest of the week almost the entire school walked around with orange hair. Even Hugo and Roxanne were wearing the latest school 'trend' to avoid suspicion, even though everyone knew who was responsible. At first the entire school was furious, multiple girls trying to disguise it with scarves or hats saying that orange was 'so not my color' or attempting to change its color, which only made it even brighter (which Rose wondered how that was possible). But after the first 24 hours or so the students began to see the humor in the latest Potter-Weasley prank. Not only did all their teachers have to wear it as well (which seeing McGonagall in orange made Rose burst out laughing every time) but they also enjoyed seeing their fellow classmates in their unusual hair colors. After about two or three days the orange hair became common almost, people didn't even realize. Occasionally you would hear people talking in the hall about when they thought it would wear off, but for the most part people weren't too concerned. However on Saturday night in the Great Hall when people ate the little cakes that were served that night for dessert they found their hair changing back to their original color. Cheers erupted in the hall as everyone checked each other to see if they were truly back to normal. A round of roaring applause filled the room, commending the team on a prank well done. Al bowed his head a bit in acknowledgement that went undetected by the professors, as they were all now testing the cake to see what spells or potions were used.

"I can't believe it," Mackenzie said. "Another year gone by and they still get away with it. I can't even sneak out for extra quidditch practice without getting caught." She grumbled as she continued to eat her cake.

"Well, you don't go on the pitch at ten o'clock at night Mackenzie, that's just stupid. How on earth would Professor Longbottom not see you floating in midair out his window?" Becca said as she ran her fingers through her blonde hair again. "Besides, you don't need the extra practice. The Ravenclaw game will be fine; we've trained longer and harder than them."

"Don't say that, you'll jinx it!" Hugo said, now listening to their conversation. "Their team is actually decent, we shouldn't undermine them." Hugo insisted.

"Fine fine, I won't say anything else." Becca said, pretending to lock her mouth with a key.

"Oh come on Hu, you shouldn't worry so much. We'll be fine, Becca's right. We have a really good team this year." Lily assured him.

"If we win the first game, I'll agree with you." He said huffily and turned around to talk to Lucy.

"Hey Mackenzie, did you get my note about getting in some extra practice tomorrow after the Hogsmede trip?" Henry asked.

"Are you making fun of me too?" She said in an exasperated tone.

"No no, I'm serious. I'm worried about the game too, I'd love to get some extra practice in. I mean, if you want to." He added.

"I'd love too. Just as long as you don't knock me off my broom with a bludger." She teased.

"I'll try not to," he smiled at her.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I think that went pretty well." Roxanne said. "But if we want to do better next time, we need to get a little more preparation time in. We waited way too long to start this prank; we're lucky we didn't mess it up."

To Rox, pranking was an art form. It had to be perfectly calculated to go correctly and flawlessly. If this didn't happen, Rox wasn't satisfied. Rose knew she wanted to take over Weasley's Wizard Wheezes someday, with Fred to help her of course.

The group walked back to the Gryffindor Tower to get some last minute studying in before tucking in for the night. Rose opened her large History of Magic textbook and began reading about various wizarding politicians, which Rose found somewhat boring. She began writing down notes for herself absentmindedly, simply letting her body continue to study while her mind dozed off, tired after studying far too long last night. At one point she was staring at a single page for ten minutes without moving her gaze. She gave up and went to bed, giving up the endless fight between work and sleep. But as she snuggled into her covers she was reminded of a daunting fact.

Tomorrow is the Hogsmede trip.

But she couldn't muster up the energy to care. She simply let herself drift off to a deep, deep sleep.

**The review button is right below this...I think you know what to do :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Good morning! I wanted to give a quick shout out to Avanell, QueenMab69, NeS PoTTeR, CollieKinz, and swimchick1614 for reviewing this story! Thank you so so so much! **

**And thanks to QueenMab69, who very kindly pointed out that my anonymous review button was disabled, you can now post anonymous reviews for this story! So _please_ review! **

**This chapter is a little short, but the next two are longer, so don't worry! **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 7

On the Sunday morning after Halloween Rose woke up a little earlier than usual, as did the rest of their dorm. They were all getting ready to go on the Hogsmede trip, and Rose was being 'helped' by Becca.

"Honestly Rose, if you don't stand still I'm going to get this in your eye." Becca snapped at her as she attempted for the 4th time to put mascara on her.

"Becca, I really don't see why this is necessary! It's just Ben! He likes how I look!"

"Yes yes, well I'm almost done. Now remember, you're wearing the brown backless sweater and the jeans with the brown boots. Your hair is done, thank Merlin, and your make-up is almost there." Becca focused on Rose's eyelids, painting them like a canvas with eye shadow. "There! Done! You can look now!" Becca stood back admiring her project, clearly very pleased. Rose had to admit; she looked good, even if it was too much make-up for her taste. When she put on the outfit too she was feeling a little more confident. She left Becca to finish her own make-up while Rose went to get some breakfast. As she sat down in the great hall Al wolf whistled at her. "Becca or Mackenzie?" He asked as she reached for a slice of toast.

"Both." She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "Mackenzie did my hair, Becca did the make-up and the outfit. Be so thankful you're not a girl."

"Oh believe me, I am every day." He assured her as she started eating.

"So Hu, did you get up the courage to ask out the Hufflepuff? Lily asked.

"Erm," he mumbled staring down at his plate. "I don't like her ok? Just drop it."

"So I guess that's a no." Lily shrugged. "I don't see why you shouldn't Hu, she seems to like you too."

He turned around and ignored her, clearly wanting to avoid the subject. "Well," she continued. "I'll have you all know that Collin and I are officially dating." She smiled and looked at Rose.

"Congratulations Lil," Rose raised her goblet to her.

"God, what is with all of the relationships? Sheesh, you girls are so sappy." They all ignored Al's comment and continued to talk about what had transpired between Lily and Collin before heading off to find their dates.

Rose met Ben at the gates. He was beaming at her, clearly very excited.

"You ready?" He asked as she walked up to him.

"Yeah," she replied. "Lets go."

Scorpious felt horrible.

Again.

He didn't know how it started or why, but when Rose told him that she was going out with Ben he felt heart drop into his chest. Why would gorgeous, brilliant, wonderful Rose want to go out with Ben? Was he smart? Sure, he was a Ravenclaw. Was he nice? Yeah, he was. Was he funny? Sort of, in a conventional way. Was he attractive? Scorpious didn't really know, but he wasn't ugly. But none of that mattered. He wasn't good enough for her.

At first he felt depressed that Rose was going out with him. Then it turned into an anger of sorts, and he felt himself wanting to murder Ben. But he knew that was ridiculous, so for now he was simply sad again. He watched her walking away with _him_ and it made him cringe. He knew why he felt this way. He just didn't want to believe it.

In all his years at Hogwarts Scorpious had never really cared about girls. But watching Rose walk away he knew. He knew that he had fallen in love with her.

But that was crazy! Right? She's Rose! She's Rose Weasley, the girl you ignored for years. The girl your family hates. The girl who's your friend. How could you have possibly fallen in love with her in two short months? But he had, and he knew it. But he also knew he was too late.

Besides, what would she want with a guy like him? It would never work, he knew that. Yet a small part of him said 'but what if it could?' which lead him back to sadness again. How could he be around her anymore without showing that something was wrong? But it would be impossible for him to avoid her in so many ways. Not only did he have to see her at least once a week but he also knew that there was no way he wouldn't be able to make it through the week without talking to her. When did he become so reliant on her? His mind went in circles, over and over again.

He walked into Hogsmede alone and went to the Hogs Head, where he knew he wouldn't be interrupted. After ordering a butterbeer he sat down, trying to sort out his thoughts. He had to have a plan. Yes, a plan. That's completely logical and reasonable. He thought it over for a while, through two butterbeers, and finally he decided there was nothing he could do at all. He couldn't break them up, he couldn't ignore it entirely, he could ignore her, he couldn't pretend to not be effected by it, he just couldn't. He would have to just let himself go, and figure out what will come of it. Oh Merlin, this won't go well.

Rose felt herself getting worried.

The date so far had gone well, they went to the three broomsticks for butterbeer and then off to Honeydukes to pick up a few things. After that they had checked out the new products at her Uncles store, which had taken over Zonko's old space a few years after the war. She said a quick hello to George before he had to get back to work. But now they were strolling along the streets, and that made her nervous. They were all alone, and that meant he would probably try and kiss her.

She knew it was coming. But yet it scared her, it was her first kiss. What if it was horrible? What if she messed it up so badly that Ben would never want to talk to her again?

"…but I think if we just add and extra 30 minutes of practice in every week, we should be ready for the game, no problem."

"Mhm," she nodded as she listened to her boots crunch in the early snow. They walked along in silence for a second, Rose waiting for him to say something.

"So, listen. Can I…" he trailed off, turning his head away from her. "Can I kiss you?"

Oh she was so worried he was going to ask. Ugh, that so ruined the moment. Why couldn't he surprise her, sweep her off her feet? But then again it was Ben, what did she expect?

"Yeah," she said quietly and she leaned in slowly. It was a soft kiss, sweet but short. But it felt wrong. Rose didn't get the fairytale feeling. Sure her stomach still flipped a bit and she still felt a tingling on her lips, but something was wrong. She could tell. But she smiled all the same and walked hand in hand with him back to the castle. All in all, it had been a nice date. Rose brought up the only thing she could think to talk about: schoolwork. By the time they had reached the castle she told him she had a lot she needed to do and left. He kissed her on the cheek before leaving as well. She walked back to the common room in a haze, confused and disoriented. Why wasn't it perfect? She found Olivia catching up on some homework as well when she entered the common room and she sat down on the couch next to her.

"Olivia?" She asked quietly.

"What?" She replied, clearly able to tell something what wrong.

"When you kiss Al how do you feel?" she asked.

A small smile crept on to Olivia's face. "I feel… amazing. Like everything's right with the world."

"Even during the beginning?" Rose asked in a small voice.

"Yes. It was different then but yes, it still felt right." Olivia didn't pry for more information though, she simply put her hand on Rose's leg reassuringly and gave her a small smile. Rose tried to distract herself with work, but she found her mind drifting away to her mangled thoughts. Finally she gave up completely and went to bed. But she tossed and turned without being able to sleep. She kept replaying it over and over in her head, trying to figure out what was missing. It should have been perfect. Why couldn't it be perfect? Eventually her mind gave up and she drifted into a heavy sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**AHHH Thank you! I cannot tell you how happy I was to look at my email this morning! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been adding this story to their alerts and favorites lists and thank you even more to the people who reviewed! Avanell, QueenMab69, and SiriusBlack345 thank you so so so so much. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for your reviews! **

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Chapter 8

Only days after the first date Rose realized the worse confusions were yet to come. Although all of her friends wanted through details on the event, that only stratified them for so long. The next question was 'So is he your boyfriend now?' which Rose had no answer to. Was he? He didn't ask her to be his girlfriend, but he kind of treated her like one. He walked her now to all of her classes (except for Care of Magical Creatures because it would take him too long and make him too late for his next class) and sat with her when she studied, and kissed her on the cheek when he said goodbye. But what did that mean? Was it 'official'? She knew who she really wanted to ask wouldn't give her a straight answer. She remember what happened at the astronomy tower, it was an off limits topic. Their first actually.

As she was studying in the common room she looked around. In the large armchair were Al and Olivia, trying to study but getting too distracted by each other. On the couch were Henry and Mackenzie, working out a very complicated astronomy chart. Actually, they seemed to be spending a lot more time together these days. She would have to ask Mackenzie about that later.

Then Becca was who knows where, probably off snogging her new boyfriend Charles, who had been in the hospital wing and couldn't ask her to go to Hogsmede with him. Lily was probably off looking for Collin to do the same.

As for Hugo, he was probably in the library. According to Lily he studies with a certain Hufflepuff girl now, and stays there far longer than he used to.

But everyone being paired up with someone made her feel very alone. She shouldn't be, she had a…Ben. But what did that even mean!

It felt like everything in her life just wasn't quite aligned. She knew everyone was stressed and worried about various things, but it felt like all of her relationships were different now somehow. Her friends now only wanted to talk about her and Ben, which although Rose thought she would want to talk about him she was growing very weary of not having answers to their questions. Her relationship with Ben was weird enough to begin with, but she didn't want to have the whole 'what are we' discussion. There was just too much else going on with her schoolwork. And then Scorpious, who was always her greatest source of comfort, seemed strained as though holding something back. She ran her fingers along the edge of her chair, weaving them in and out of the pattern. Part of her wished she could go back to September where everything seemed clearer. She furrowed her brow as she thought. She had to do something, but what?

The next morning the Gryffindor House was in a kind of maddening worry. The first game of their season was with Ravenclaw, a highly anticipated one. Honestly Rose had never cared about quidditch at all before, but this match was certainly giving her grief. She thought about skipping it all together, but her friends wouldn't let her. Who would she cheer for? Would it seem that out of place if she didn't cheer for Ben? Oh lord, she thought as she walked down to the pitch, this will be interesting.

"Rose, shouldn't you have worn at least a little blue?" Olivia asked. "Ben_ is_ on the other team."

"Yeah, but until I know where things stand with him I'm not going to root for Ravenclaw." She replied, burrowing her hands in her coat.

Olivia's soft eyes looked at her, "That's why you asked me about Al after Hogsmede, isn't it?"

Rose paused, trying to decide if she would regret saying this. "Yes. I'm just not sure about him. It just doesn't feel right."

Olivia nodded her head and continued on with the walk. That's what Rose loved about Olivia; she never pried for information.

"Is there someone else?" At first Rose's first instinct was no, of course not. There isn't. No way. Who else would there be? But Rose felt her stomach churn at Olivia's words. Was there someone else? 'Yes,' a small voice in the back of her head said. 'You've known it all along.'

And then it hit her like an ice cold wave. It was him. That was the problem here, not her, him. Damn, she cursed to herself. That's why the kiss was wrong. That's why the relationship seemed all messed up. That's why her friendship seemed strange. All along it was the wrong boy, the wrong everything. When Ben held her hand, when he touched her face, it was all wrong.

Scorpious' face, his smile, his laugh, his eyes, his voice, it all came rushing to her head. Suddenly she felt a small tear trickle down her cheek.

"I," her voice wavered. "I have to go. I'll see you later." She ran back up the hill, hot tears now streaming down her face. She went on the other side of the castle, crumbled against a wall, and sobbed; realizing it would never be able to happen between them. Scorpious wouldn't want her and her family wouldn't want Scorpious. It would be a complete disaster. It was all too much to bear, falling in love with something that could never be. So she wept over the sounds of cheering down at the pitch. The cold winds whipped around her face, making her nose go red. She looked like a mess sitting there. This wouldn't work. Rose Weasley was always put together, always perfect. Or at least trying to be. Who was this girl who cried over things that could never happen? She would fall in love with Ben. She would stop this stupid wishing; all it did was make her hurt more. So she marched down to the pitch and watched the last few minutes of the game. The stands were a complete wash of Red and Blue, fans screaming their heads off when Gryffindor made a goal. Gryffindor was going to win; it was clear by now. The Ravenclaw seeker looked exhausted and there was no way that he could beat Lily's speed in that state. Sure enough, five minutes later Gryffindor had caught the snitch and won and the entire house poured onto the field. The sounds of shouts and screams filled her ears as she searched for him. Finally she saw him in the center of the team, consoling his other friends. She ran up to him and whispered in his ear, "I know a way to cheer you up." And then she kissed him.

Scorpious felt horrible.

Which by now seemed normal.

Because every time he looked around he was reminded in some way of Rose. He would see her favorite color (Red) or see someone reading her favorite book (Hogwarts, a history) or someone who eats their bread the same way she does (crusts off, folded in half). But seeing Rose kiss Ben like that on the pitch made him loose all hope of ever having her.

He couldn't bear to look at it for even a second longer, so he left the pitch without saying anything to anyone and went up to the astronomy tower. The air was colder there; it bit at his cheeks and stung his nose. He collapsed against one of the walls; remembering when he and Rose were last there just last week, laughing without a care in the world. Pretending that nothing was wrong.

But he couldn't pretend anymore. Just seeing her made him feel miserable. How could he continue on with his pointless days and believe that everything would be all right?

He finished the night attempting to do schoolwork before his Monday classes tomorrow. Monday. Tomorrow he would have to face Rose. The mere idea tormented him.

But he did to that thought what he did to all the others that scared him. He pushed it away. Just like he did to everything else.

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	9. Chapter 9

**So I officially LOVE you guys. Thank so so much to everyone who has been adding this to their alerts and favorites list. But to everyone who has reviewed, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I love you all so much! Kechara7881, SiriusBlack345, NeS MoOnY, Musical Marvel (), coolcarissa11, Avanell, and QueenMab69; your recent reviews made me so excited that I had to post this chapter a day earlier than I was intending to! **

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Chapter 9

Snogging Ben was a strange experience. While Ben was clearly happy about it Rose couldn't even bring a smile to her face. Why couldn't she be happy! Was it so terrible for her to be happy? Nevertheless, She kissed him one last time before saying goodnight in the hallway. Now everyone knew, or at least half the school, that she was together with Ben. Everyone was badgering her during the Gryffindor party all night trying to get details out of her, so she went to bed somewhat early to ignore them all. Falling asleep wasn't the hard part though; it was waking back up and facing the day ahead of her.

She spent most of Sunday asleep, which was probably a very good thing. She woke up at 11 o'clock to find she had completely skipped breakfast and got ready to go to lunch. Her friends looked worried about her, Rose wasn't one to sleep this late, especially with all the work she had to get done. But she shrugged it off and chalked it up to overextending herself, which she had. By the time lunch was over she hid out in a deserted part of the library and attempted to study, but her mind was a complete mess. She kept drifting her thoughts back to Ben and her mixed feelings about him, or her problems with Scorpious. She kept getting distracted by random things, like strange noises or her shoes, and found it impossible to stay focused. By the time she finally glanced up at the clock she realized she had been there for four hours and had done virtually nothing. She quickly began her charms homework as fast as she possibly could, and after that Defense Against the Dark Arts. By the time she was done with both of those she was already 15 minutes late for dinner and ran to get there so she could eat something.

By the time she was actually done with dinner and got away from her distracting friends she only had about an hour until she had to be back in her common room, so she quickly did the fastest research paper ever and went back to her dorm to sleep again. But the next morning she woke up already tired; feeling like her day had started on Saturday and that this was just one horrible long day. She was half asleep through most of breakfast and had to be practically dragged down the hall by Henry to her first class.

She felt herself dozing off through most her classes and although she finally woke herself up by History of Magic, she could now hear people whispering about her and Ben. It was nauseating, all of these people examining her love life under a microscopic lens. She did anything she could to distract herself from their voices. But the real distraction came for her when she got back the work she handed in that morning. Normally it took a class or two to get work back, but Professor Binns had made them read in their textbooks for half the class, so he must had graded them then. She looked down at her paper to see the horrifying red mark. An A for Acceptable. She had never gotten an A in her life. Always Os, maybe EEs, but _**never**_ As. What would her mother say when she found out? Oh my god, she was finally unraveling at the seams. Getting an A on an assignment was the last straw; she had officially lost it. She held back tears as she left her classroom hurriedly and went to Moaning Myrtles bathroom. She cried though most of dinner and study period about the sorry state of her life, about the boy that couldn't be, the boy she didn't like, and the grade that was sickening. She thought of what last year was like and how simple it had all seemed. Why couldn't it be that way anymore? A small part of her reminded her that an A really wasn't that bad, and neither was Ben. But she ignored it entirely, Rose still felt awful. She was always perfect. The perfect daughter, perfect friend, perfect student, perfect Gryffindor, perfect prefect, perfect _everything!_ How had it all come down to this? Why was this her breaking point? Shouldn't it be her NEWTs? Finally she dried her tears and went to go find Scorpious to begin patrol. As if this night could get any worse.

Rose was too lost in her own thoughts to even say anything for the first few minutes of their patrol. They simply wandered the halls in silence. The cheery faces in the portraits seemed to mock her as she walked along. The scenes kept replaying themselves in her head, over and over again, haunting her every step. She shut her eyes for a brief moment to hold back a tear. It was eerie listening to their heals tap their way down the hall with no other sound at all.

Scorpious must have seen her choke back her tears because he asked, "Is something wrong Rose?"

And that's when she lost it.

She started sobbing in front of him, letting go of whatever sadness was left. Her breathing was hitched as she bawled on his shoulder, holding on to him tightly. He walked her up to the astronomy tower, trying to make sure no one could hear her. Once there though he didn't know what to do, so he let her cry for a little while. But he couldn't take it anymore.

"Rose, what's wrong?" He asked more urgently this time.

"Everything!" She wailed, throwing her hands up into the air. "Everything! I got an A today on an assignment. An A! I'm Rose! I don't get As!" She hollered as she continued to weep. "And lately, I can't focus. At all! My mind just rushes in circles around and around and around again and it's all your fault!" She yelled between sobs. Oh no. That wasn't supposed to come out.

"My fault? My fault! How is any of this my fault?" He demanded.

"I meant Ben's fault. Not you." She added a bit harshly. "I don't know where we stand, he hasn't told me what he wants from me. Some days I feel like I'm his friend, others I'm his girlfriend. And now the whole school knows and some people are saying awful things about me and it's just too much." She tried to wipe her tears but it was no use, they just came down faster. "I feel like everything I do is wrong, that I'm not good enough."

"Rose," Scorpious grabbed her shoulders and swung her around to face him. "Don't ever, ever, say you're not good enough."

She laughed miserably, "But its true. I'm not. Everything I do now just gets thrown back in my face and it's always somehow my fault! I'm just falling apart and its not even NEWT year! What will happen to me then? I'm a goddamn mess! I'm not enough. I'm never enough."

"Is it Ben? Did he say this to you?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern.

"He didn't have to! It's me! Surprise surprise, but I figured this out all on my own." She said bitterly.

"Rose Weasley, listen to me. You are the most beautiful, caring, smart, witty, wonderful girl I have ever had the pleasure to meet. You shouldn't be with Ben, he doesn't deserve you." He sounded like he was pleading with her.

The cold wind whipped around her face as she shook her head. "That's not good enough." She said softly.

"He doesn't love you enough. Any guy who wouldn't want to make the entire world know that he was lucky enough to have you for a girlfriend isn't worthy of you."

"It's still not good enough!" She hollered against the wind. The hot tears still rolled down her face.

"Well then how about this." He pulled her close to him and kissed her, but not the way Ben kissed her. This kiss was filled with everything Rose was feeling, hurt, anger, hope, desire. She moved closer to him, deepening the kiss, trying to pour out everything she was feeling into one single motion. She lost everything she was thinking about, it all faded away, outshone by the tingles up her spine and the heat that spread through her. This is what a kiss should be like. She tangled her fingers in his dark blonde hair and didn't let go, never wanting the kiss to end. All of her nerves seem to be on fire, desperate for this feeling. But reality swept over her like a bone chilling wave. Ben. She had a Ben. Who certainly wouldn't be happy to see her kissing anyone, especially like this. She quickly pulled away, realizing what she had just done.

"I…" she breathed heavily. "I have to go." She ran back down the stairs and though the hall. She didn't care that she still had at least an hour left of prefect duty, nor did she care that she could possibly loose her badge over this. She just ran; trying to think of a place she could be alone when she ran headfirst into Lily.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Lily asked nervously. But Rose simply collapsed into her shoulder and began crying for the third time that day. She was a little shocked she had any tears left. Lily stroked her hair and sat down next to her. "There, there," she whispered. "It's gonna be ok. Whatever just happened, it's gonna be ok. Shh." Rose rested her head on Lily's shoulder and continued to cry. After about ten minutes Lily walked her back up to Gryffindor Tower and sat with her in the now empty common room.

"Rose, why don't you tell me what happened, hm?" They sat by the fire as she wiped up Rose's tears. "It might help you feel better."

And so soon enough Rose was telling her everything she had held in for so long, her friendship with Scorpious, the strangeness with Ben, the A on the assignment, the feelings for Scorpious, all of it. She knew it wasn't worth leaving anything out, so she didn't. Lily just sat there and listened patiently. When Rose had finally finished her tale, Lily just sat there for a while, taking it all in.

"Do you really want me to tell you what I think?" She asked quietly.

Rose sighed deeply, as if a huge weight had been taken off her chest. "Yes, desperately."

"Find Ben tomorrow, and tell him that you need to break up with him. Tell him it's not his fault, because it isn't, but that you feel like you're under a lot of pressure right now with school and family and that you just can't have a boyfriend. That it wouldn't be fair to him or you. Because it really wouldn't." Lily added before continuing. "Then go find Scorpious. Talk this out. Explain your fears; figure out what his are. Then decided from there." Lily patted Rose's hand. "That's all you really can do."

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	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

Rose woke up the next morning in somewhat of a daze. She couldn't tell if what she was remembering was just a silly dream, or if it had actually happened. The tears, the grade, the kiss. Was it real? Rose jumped out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror. Well, she certainly looked like a complete wreck, so that seemed pretty spot on. She then looked around in her bag to see if she could find the now tear stained paper. Sure enough, there it was with a big, fat A on it. So it had happened. It was real.

Which meant she needed to go find Ben and deal with this. But first, a shower. She desperately needed a shower.

Feeling the warm water rush over her head and down her back had an extremely soothing effect. Rose was going to be ok; this was all going to work out fine. Well, she would be breaking up with Ben at any rate. As for the rest of it, it will be what it will be. That was her new motto it seemed like. Let it be.

After a quick drying spell on her hair she got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. She took a seat next to Lily, who looked a bit tired after staying up with Rose last night, but seem cheerful enough all the same.

"Rose where were you last night?" Mackenzie asked, looking very concerned.

"No offence, but you have been a wreck since Saturday, what's going on?" Becca asked.

"I'm breaking up with Ben." Rose said firmly. She might as well tell them, they were going to know soon enough.

"Why?" Mackenzie asked. "I thought you liked him. I mean, it was you who kissed him on the quidditch pitch."

"I know, but that was a mistake. And I feel bad if he thinks I've lead him on, but I can't deal with a boyfriend right now. It's too much; it was making me crazy. Especially one who is as indecisive as him." She looked around at their slightly skeptical faces. "Honestly guys, I will feel so much better once I don't have to worry about him."

"Well, I think it's a good thing." Lily said. "You were far too stressed out, it will be better this way." The others nodded their head in agreement.

"Oh, and have you all heard? Hugo got detention on Sunday." Lily said.

"What?" The table asked in unison. Hugo getting detention was usually associated with some sort of Gryffindor gossip, normally pulling a prank or hexing a Slytherin.

"What did you do Hu?" Olivia asked.

"Erm, I'd rather not talk about it." Well, that was the worst thing he could have possibly said because for Hugo not to want to talk about something he had gotten in trouble for was pretty shocking.

"He got detention for snogging a girl!" Becca said, her eyes gleaming. "I knew it!" Hu's face started going incredibly red. "What's her name?"

"Rachel." He mumbled. "But please don't make it a big deal, because it's not."

"So she's the Hufflepuff girl! Nice going Al, she's cute." Henry said. Rose could see Mackenzie stiffen out of the corner of her eye at these words.

"Wow, Hugo's first detention relating a girl. I'm proud." Al said, raising his goblet in a mock toast. Hugo's face continued to get more flushed until Henry decided to save him.

"Well, since this morning seems too relationship heavy we need to change topics. The Hufflepuff game is next, and I think we'll be ok if we strengthen our Chasers. What do you think Al?"

Oh Merlin, more quidditch. Rose glanced around the Great Hall, trying to find Ben. There he was, casually eating breakfast, unaware of what was about to happen. She felt a pang of guilt about breaking up with him, but what else could she do? She wasn't going to lie to him and continue to be apart of a relationship she didn't care about. That just wasn't fair. But the actual breaking up with him would be difficult; she had never broken up with anyone before.

Then she searched the sea of black robes for another familiar face. Finally she saw Scorpious across the room and he looked like a mess. His eyes were barely open, he wasn't eating anything, his hair jetted out at all sorts of strange angles, his robes were crumpled as if he had slept in them, and he almost looked sick. Rose immediately felt horrible; she knew that she had caused this. She couldn't bear to watch him; it hurt too much, so she tried to listen to their conversation.

"What? You can't be serious! I mean, he's good, but the best player in the league? The Chudley Cannons lose every single year!" Henry argued.

"Yeah, but he's still a great player. He's really creative, his plays just don't always work." Hugo defended.

"You are so like your father Hu," Lily said. "Well, you all don't have to ask me what my favorite team is."

"Yes, but the Hollyhead Harpies are actually good. But of course you're biased though Lil." Henry said.

"So? No one will argue that they've had an amazing start to the season this year!"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as they left the table to go to their first class, Herbology. Rose was going to try and catch Ben before class to see if she could get it over with. She scanned the hall for him, finding him walking along with one of his friends. Rose approached them and smiled. "Do you mind if I talk to Ben alone for a moment? It's important."

"Yeah, sure." The friend replied and left the two of them alone. Rose walked to a slightly deserted corridor with Ben behind her.

"Rose?" He asked. "What's wrong?"

Her fingers fiddled with the edge of her bag as she tried to think of a way to say it lightly, but nothing came.

"Ben, you're a great guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you. I mean, you're smart, funny, cute, and really sweet. But I have to break up with you." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I know its cliché, but its not you. Truly, it isn't. Lately I have been so stressed out about school and family and my friends, that I have been making myself crazy trying to balance it all. I can't have a boyfriend right now. It wouldn't be fair to you or me."

"I understand." He said, giving her a small but sad smile.

"I really am sorry." She said, truly meaning it.

"I know." He gave her hand a small squeeze before leaving down the corridor. One part of Rose was relieved that she no longer had to worry about breaking up with him anymore, but the other part of her was now terrified. Because now there was nothing left to do but face Scorpious.

She ended up with disgusting goo all over her right arm because she wasn't paying attention in Herbology. She was trying to figure out what she would say to Scorpious when her plant squirted her with a fowl smelling red liquid that was now covering her arm. She vowed to pay more attention in the rest of her classes and immediately felt better. It was a nice feeling to go back to notes and studying, knowing that some things never change. When dinner rolled around she was back to her normal self, for the most part. There was still Scorpious, and that made her stomach queasy every time she thought about him. But she had already made her move. Before dinner she went up to the Owlery and wrote him a quick note

_Scorpious, _

_ We need to talk. This can't wait until patrol on Monday. Please meet me in the astronomy tower on Wednesday at 8 o'clock, after dinner. _

_ Rose_

It took Rose a while to figure out how to sign the note, but in the end she opted not to just write her name. Whatever else she might have said could have been read into the wrong way. This was cleaner, simpler. Rose left the table with the rest of her fellow Gryffindors and went back up to the library to study. But now most of the school knew that they had broken up. They weren't really sure who to blame for the ending of the relationship because Rose and Ben had both just said they broke up, but they weren't angry at one another like most couples. She could feel Melanie from Ravenclaw staring at her while she worked on her Care of Magical Creatures work. Finally she just couldn't take the looks she was getting, so she left to go back to the common room.

As she walked through the portrait hall she found that many of her friends were already asleep, except for Becca and Mackenzie. They were playing a game of wizards' chess that clearly was going on forever, as they both looked rather exhausted.

"Why are you playing chess at this hour?" Rose asked. "Even I'm tired, you both should be asleep."

"Becca thinks she's better than me." Mackenzie yawned. "I'm not moving until she accepts defeat."

"There's a reason I _know_ I am better than you. Tell her Rosie, you know I'm the best chess player there is."

"Oh that's not true, I'm better than both of you." Rose said as she sat down to watch.

"That's true, she is better than us." Mackenzie said groggily.

Becca nodded her head in agreement. "I forgot that, but you're right. Rosie is the best chess player I know, she just never plays."

"That's not true," Rose defended.

"Yes it is. You haven't played since the start of term. You're completely swamped with school, you are taking more classes than the rest of us." Becca said.

"Well, I don't know what I want to do when I graduate yet. I want to be prepared for anything." Rose snuggled herself into a blanket on the couch, preparing for a long night of chess mediating.

After another hour Mackenzie finally beat a very upset Becca, who claimed she was just too tired to think straight, and they all went to bed. Rose sat in the window seat and watched the snow fall, remembering what she would have to do tomorrow. Oh Scorpious.

That kiss was… amazing. There was no other way to describe it. Everything about it was perfect, but everything that surrounded it was horrible. She couldn't believe he kissed her; that he actually wanted to kiss her. Something about her mind just couldn't process it.

But was it a mistake? Was he just caught up in the moment? Did he regret it? Was he never going to talk to her again?

What would she say to him?

Rose tried to stay awake, hoping tomorrow wouldn't come, but she felt herself slowly falling into a deep sleep.

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	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! A HUGE thank you to alicecullenisrealinmyworld, Adnama, MusicMarvel, and SiriusBlack345 for reviewing the last chapter! I love love love love you guys so much! And thank you also to everyone who is adding this to their alerts and favorite stories, I love you all as well! **

**This chapter for some strange reason took me longer to write than normal (it is the second longest in this story so far for that reason) so I hope you like it!**

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 11

Rose was woken by Mackenzie throwing a red scarf on her face, "Wake up sleepyhead! We're going to miss breakfast, we overslept."

Rose attempted to blink the fogginess out of her eyes. "How late are we?"

"Well, we normally wake up 20 minutes earlier. So it's not the end of the world, but it's not the best situation either."

Rose cursed under her breath and began to get ready. Her hair was a complete mess and took longer than usual to comb out and by the time she was done she hardly had anytime to get dressed. So she threw on what she was wearing yesterday and ran down to the Great Hall. Everyone else was already there waiting for the four girls to arrive.

"Where were you?" Al asked Olivia as she slid in next to him.

"We overslept. Pass the French toast." She asked Hugo as the girls grabbed whatever food was in reach and stuffed it in their mouths.

"We all went to bed late because some people decided to have a chess tournament in the common room last night." Rose complained.

"Hey! You didn't have to stay and watch!" Mackenzie defended.

"You also didn't have to come into our room singing 'I am victorious' and wake everyone up." Olivia said.

"You're the only other person in our room." Mackenzie reminded her.

"Well, my sleep matters too!" Olivia protested.

"Yes, yes, we're all exhausted. But the real question is, did you hear that the Hufflepuff seeker got hurt yesterday in practice." Becca said.

"What? How bad is it?" Al asked.

"It's not good. Their idiot beaters weren't paying attention and they were messing around with the bludgers when they hit one right at him square in the back. He fell off his broom and broke a fair amount. Someone attempted a cushioning charm, but it really didn't help that much. He's in the hospital wing."

"You're kidding. Without their seeker they don't stand a chance!" Lily said excitedly.

"Lily, he could have died!" Olivia said.

"Well, yes. And if he did I would obviously have been upset. But come on! This is some great luck! He will recover in time for the game no problem, but that was a serious fall. They probably won't want him back on a broom for a bit."

"Lil, our game isn't until after the break. He'll probably be fine by then." Hugo reminded her.

"But he will have been out of practice! His parents certainly won't let him play over holiday after his injury and so he'll be off to a rocky start when he gets back! This is brilliant!" No one else at the table shared in Lily's excitement as they were all a bit disturbed by the idea of him falling off his broom.

Rose inhaled the rest of breakfast and went down to her first class of the day, Potions. She had been dreading this class all morning because she would have to finally see Scorpious, something she was trying her very best to put off until tonight so she didn't go into panic-attack mode. However she found herself staring at him in class, which often created the uncomfortable situation when he decided to stare at her at the same time and they were caught in awkward eye contact. Rose tried her best to focus all of her energy on her potion, which was becoming trickier and more difficult as she went through the steps. She finally managed to finish a decent brew of a calming draught and left the classroom as soon as she had corked a bottle of it to leave on the professor's desk. She went quickly to her next class to try to avoid Scorpious; she just couldn't handle seeing him right now, it would mess up her mind too much. The rest of her classes were filled with anticipation for that night's discussion, and they seemed to go on forever.

By the time dinner was over Rose was internally freaking out. Oh Merlin. She would have to go and face Scorpious. Right now. There was no avoiding this anymore. She walked over to where Al was sitting in the common room.

"I need the map." She told him.

He cocked an eyebrow at her, "Rose, you've never needed the map before. Why do _you _need it?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later, just give it to me!" She demanded as he pulled it out from his bag. She was a bit snappy when she was on edge like this.

"Fine, here it is." He said turning back to his quidditch pitch diagrams with the little floating paper players that uncle Harry had gotten him for Christmas. "Be good." He called out after her.

"Oh wow, coming from you." She mumbled as she left the common room. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she told the map. It looked like she was in the clear; no one was around her path to the tower. She checked Scorpious' for good measure as well, but he seemed fine too. She set out down the hall, feeling very guilty for breaking the rules. It was something she wasn't accustom to, she was always the good daughter who never caused her parents any concern. If only they knew what she had gotten herself into now.

She reached the steps for the astronomy tower and put away the map. They appeared to be safe, for now at least. She walked up into the cool night air, feeling refreshed but still anxious. She was right on time, where was he? Was he not going to show?

She loved to look out here at the stars against the deep blue sky, but now was not the time. She almost checked the map for Scorpious but as she was drawing it out from under her robes, he walked in.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," She replied. They both stared at each other, both unsure of what to say. Oh no, this was really awkward. She was hoping it wouldn't be like this.

"Look, I wanted to say," she started but he cut her off.

"No, me first." She was surprised by his directness, but let him continue all the same. "I'm sorry for kissing you. You have a boyfriend, I was completely out of line and"

"I broke up with Ben." She told him matter-of-factly.

"Really?" he asked her, looking genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. He took it well, better than I expected." Rose said burrowing her hands in her jacket. "You were saying?"

"Well, that kind of changes the rest of my speech." He gave a small smile. "Why did you break up with him?" He asked.

She closed her eyes and tried to gather up some confidence. "Because he wasn't you," She admitted. She tried to brace herself for his response and opened her eyes, only to find herself looking straight into his.

"Rose…" he said, his face only inches away from her own. He leaned in and gave her a soft, tender kiss. "I love you." He whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." She told him, her entire face breaking out in a smile. She kissed him again, this time keeping the kiss a little longer before pulling away. The smile faded away from her lips. "But this… how can this work?" She asked him. "I want this to work, but Scorpious you and I are from practically different worlds. We aren't supposed to be together. What will your parents think?" She asked him.

"I don't care," he told her, still holding her hands.

"What will my parents think?" She asked herself out loud. She remembered what her father said to her as she was boarding the train for the first time. 'Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood.' That's what they would think.

"We just won't tell them." He said simply.

"Won't tell them? But they'll find out, practically half of my family goes to this school." She reminded him.

"Ok, then we won't tell anyone." He said slowly.

"Anyone? But Lily already knows about what's been going on." She confessed.

"That's fine, she can cover for us." He said, getting excited. "But lets keep it a secret. That way we won't have to deal with the pressures of our families, or of our friends. We can keep this between us until we're sure we can handle it."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I'm positive. This will work Rose. I know it will." She smiled at him and he wrapped her in a hug. "Don't worry Rose. Everything will be fine."

For some reason that reminded her about the map, and about that fact that they weren't supposed to be here. She cursed under her breath and let go, drawing out the map. Before he had time to ask questions she said, "the heads are coming, we have to hide."

Rose ducked into the trapdoor they used to store materials for astronomy class. "Well, come on! We don't have much time!" She told Scorpious as she stood there staring at her. He quickly followed her under the floor and they shut the trapdoor as they waited.

"There's never anyone up here Mandy, I don't know why you always bother looking up here only to freeze in the process." The head boy complained.

"Because I'm more careful then you are when we patrol." She responded, clearly exasperated by the Hufflepuff head boy. "But it looks like no one is here, so it's your lucky day." She said as she walked on the floor above them. The wood was old and creaked as she walked along, making Rose hold on tighter to Scorpious.

"Let's go raid the kitchens, I'm starving." He said as their voices became more faint.

"No! We can't break school rules while on patrol!" Mandy's outraged voice was almost gone when Rose and Scorpious popped their heads out from under the trapdoor.

"That was close." Rose said as she pulled herself out.

"We'll just have to find a better hiding place." He winked at her and she felt her whole body relax and her stomach flip. Damn his smile.

She pulled him in closer and gave him one long, soft kiss. "I should go. They'll start asking questions if I don't turn up soon." She whispered in his ear.

"When will I see you again?" He asked her, not letting go of her hand.

"You'll see me tomorrow of course," She smiled at him and let herself be pulled back into his embrace.

"That's not what I meant."

She looked into his beautiful gray eyes, "I want to see you all the time. Why don't we meet after dinner somewhere?" She suggested.

"But we can't come back here, now that we know people check it on their rounds." He said sadly.

"No, but I know some of the best troublemakers in the school, I'm sure I can find somewhere."

"How will I know where to meet you?"

"I'll put a note behind the picture of the man playing the guitar. No one ever listens to him, he only sings songs about dragons." He laughed before she kissed him one more time and then headed down the stairs.

She opened up the map and checked their paths, which both were luckily clear. She gave him the thumbs up from bellow and began her path back to Gryffindor Tower. She really wasn't that late, so her friends were still milling about the common room. She tried to figure out whom to sit next to so that she would look 'normal'. Henry and Mackenzie seemed pretty caught up in their own conversation huddled next to each other by the fire, Becca was who knows where, Olivia was cuddled up on the couch next to Al, and she had no idea where Lily was either. So Rose sat down next to Hugo, who looked like he was deep in thought over some book.

"Hey Hu, whatcha reading?" She asked as she plopped down next to him.

"I'm just trying to get some homework done. I can't focus studying with Rachel anymore, and I don't want to give up the 'study time' with her because I love seeing her…" he trailed off and the tips of his ears went red. "Anyway, I need to do some extra studying."

"Well, the answer to question number three is Pollyjuice Potion. And number four is almost right, but you forgot the side effects from accidently using animal hair instead."

"Oh right! Thanks Rosie." He said earnestly as he began scribbling things onto his role of parchment.

"No problem." She began to stand up but stopped herself. "Hey Hu, do you know of any really good hiding places in the castle?" She asked, before she had the chance to think through a decent excuse for her question.

"A few, why?"

"Because… I sometimes just need a room to hide from people." She said unconvincingly.

"People?" he said, incredulous.

"Mhm, people. Look Hu, do you really want to hear about my problems?" She asked him wearily.

"No, good point. Well, the best place I could think of is the room of requirement."

"Where is that exactly? I've heard Al talking about it." Rose said.

"Go ask him for the map, it's on there." He told her. "Just walk past it a few times and tell it what you want it for. It's bloody brilliant." He said before turning back to his work.

"Ok, thanks Hu." She said walking away from him. She went up to her room and opened up the map and sure enough, there it was. It was perfect.

She still felt butterflies of pure joy in her stomach that she just couldn't shake. He liked her. No, correction. He loved her. Scorpious loved Rose. The whole scene just repeated itself in her mind. It was hard not to break into song or dance around the room in delight. This feeling was wonderful, this euphoria that he seemed to give her.

She had a newfound spring in her step; everything just seemed brighter and better than before. Everything, except for not telling anyone about Scorpious. She couldn't help but feel guilty about keeping a secret from everyone (minus Lily) that was so huge. But her family finding out about Scorpious would be…. disastrous. A complete catastrophe.

She knew that her father would hate the idea on principal alone, just the mere thought of having his daughter kissing a Malfoy would be enough to send him over the edge. Her mother would be more understanding, but she probably wouldn't like the secret keeping around the relationship. As for all of the other Weasleys, they would try to break the two of them up as if the world depended on it. Because they all felt that they knew what was best for her.

But Rose would have Lily to cover for her and that would be extremely helpful. Where was Lily? Shouldn't she be back by now?

Rose got up from her bed and walked down to the 4th year dorms. She had been in Lily's dorm before and knew most of her friends, so it wasn't so unusual when she popped her head in the door and asked, "Is Lily here?"

"She was but she left to go downstairs to the common room about 5 minutes ago." Her roommate Margaret told her.

"Great, thanks." Rose practically skipped down the stairs to the common room and saw Lily's fiery red hair peaking out from behind one of the chairs.

"Hey Lily, can I borrow you for a bit." Rose said as she came up behind her.

"Sure Rosie, hang on just one second. Let me just finish the page I'm reading." Lily quickly scanned what looked to be a transfiguration textbook and then walked up the stairs to Rose's deserted room.

"So, did you talk to Scorpious?" She asked barley seconds after Rose closed the door.

"Yes, I did. We're together now. Well, sort of." Rose added.

"How is it 'sort of'?" Lily asked.

"We aren't telling anyone. Well, except for you, because you already know. But it's going to be our little secret for a while. It just not worth the trouble of telling everyone."

"As much as I agree with you, don't you think that's a little dangerous? I mean, what's going to happen if Ron finds out and you didn't tell him? He'll be bloody furious."

"But he _won't_ find out. He can't! There's just no way he could. If only the three of us know then who would tell him?" Rose pointed out.

"But what if he intercepts and owl or sees you both together somewhere? I don't mean to burst your bubble Rosie, but I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I won't get hurt. I'll be fine. Really." Rose assured her.

Lily gave a deep sigh, "Ok." Her face suddenly perked up, "So tell me how it happened!" Rose laughed and began to tell her everything, but Becca came in and they quickly changed the subject without her noticing. About 20 minutes later they all decided it was time to go to sleep, so Rose attempted this but found herself too excited to be tired. She would be seeing Scorpious tomorrow. She, Scorpious' girlfriend, would be seeing her boyfriend, Scorpious. It all just seemed unreal.

She fell asleep eventually to sweet dreams of gray eyes.

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	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone! Thank you SO SO much to Avanell, breenie, MusicalMarvel, QueenMab69, and an anonymous reviewer for reviewing the last chapter! Love you guys so much, thank you. **

**I'm sorry this chapter is a bit short, but I had some trouble figuring out where I wanted to pick the story back up after getting them together. **

**I have one last request: In your reviews, would you mind telling me who your favorite character is besides Rose and Scorpious? Please review the chapter as well, but I would love to know who your favorite(s) are for future chapters I am planning out. Thank you in advance! **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 12

The next morning Rose was energized from the moment she got out of bed, fueled by her excitement to see Scorpious. She spent a little more time than usual getting reading that morning: trying to make her hair to curl just a little bit more, attempting to fix her sleep deprived eyes, putting a little bit of something shiny on her lips. By the time she was ready to go downstairs for breakfast her friends had definitely noticed something was different.

"Rose, what's with you this morning?" Becca asked.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked innocently.

"I mean that you've actually spent time trying to put on make-up, you woke up early, and you have never been _this_ cheerful at this hour in your entire life." Becca said as they walked out of the dorm room.

"I'm starting a new chapter. Turning over a new leaf." She paused after look at Becca's confused face but continued anyway. "I was so stressed out for most of first semester that I hadn't been acting like myself. You said so yourself when we were playing chess, remember?"

"Yes, but this isn't exactly you either." Becca reminded her.

"No, it's an improved version of myself." Rose struck a pose to try and lighten the atmosphere, but Becca wasn't budging till she got an answer. "I'm going to try and get more sleep, hence happier Rose and more awake Rose." She explained.

"And the make-up?" Becca said.

"Well, I've had it in my trunk for the longest time. I figure I'm in 6th year now; I should care a little more about my appearance. Besides, its only lip-gloss and the charm that makes your eyelashes just a bit longer, it's less than all of you use." She pointed out.

"I just want to make sure you aren't changing on the inside." Becca said.

"Trust me, I couldn't if I tried." Rose laughed as they approached the Great Hall.

The four girls took their seats at the Gryffindor table and Rose felt an unusual pang of sadness. How she would love for Scorpious to be able to sit there too.

She looked across at the Slytherin table and there he was, giving her a quick wink that seemed to make her entire day wonderful. Ugh, he had far too much control over Rose for her own comfort. The way he could make her entire day amazing with just a bat of the eye, it wasn't fair. Little did she know, she did the exact same thing to him.

Scorpious felt magnificent.

Which for him was very unusual.

But how could he not feel this way? Rose was his girlfriend. Beautiful, amazing, wonderful Rose was his. It was too good to be true.

But when she smiled at him from across the room he knew he hadn't dreamt it all. It was real, and it was brilliant.

Scorpious had never felt this happy in his entire life. Not only was he now going against his parents' wishes to be with her (which made him happy in a strange way) but she was willing to go against her parents as well just to be with him.

She loved him.

He was sure when she said she 'wanted to talk' in her note that she was upset about him kissing her. That they were friends and nothing more and if he couldn't accept that then he should get out of her life. Words could not describe his happiness when she told him she had broken up with Ben because she wanted to be with him.

He went off to his first class, which was even more tedious then normal knowing her could have spent this time with Rose. All of his classes ended up feeling like this, he just couldn't think about anything but her. Images of Rose filled his mind.

Her beautiful smile. It seemed to ease all of his worries just by looking at it. Her hair was always gorgeous, framing her face perfectly with waves of dark auburn hair. Her eyes were chocolate brown, soft and stunning against her porcelain skin.

Merlin, everything about her was perfect. He just felt like the luckiest guy at Hogwarts, everything was going his way because soon he would be seeing Rose.

He hardly talked at all at dinner, he just couldn't take part in such frivolous conversation about tests and quidditch games, none of it seemed to matter anymore. He ate as fast as he could and then left dinner a bit early to go find Rose's note.

As promised, it was hanging behind the portrait.

_Scorpious, _

_ Meet me on the 7__th__ floor across from where the tapestry hangs of Barnabas and Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance ballet. I know it sounds strange, but I promise it will be the perfect place. _

_ Love, _

_ Rose _

Love Rose, those words looked so good on the page. He had never felt so….sappy in his life. He had never understood people that were so enamored with love before. But now it made complete sense to him. Everything made sense after Rose.

He climbed the moving staircases quickly to the 7th floor, and found he was a few minutes early for their rendezvous. He leaned against the wall, trying to look inconspicuous until she got there. Luckily she turned the corner only minutes later, pulling him into a quick kiss.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," he whispered back. "So, this room?" He asked her.

"Oh right!" She said and pulled away. She began to pace in front of the wall looking very focused on her thoughts. Finally, she stopped and stared at the wall as a door appeared out of nowhere. Scorpious had seen stranger things in his life, but he certainly had never seen anyone summon a door before. Or rather, summon a room.

He was expecting something small through the door; it would be extremely difficult to conjure something large out of thin air. But when Rose opened the door he peered inside and saw a spacious room with a small table in the center that held what looked to be delicious cakes and pies. It was lit entirely by candlelight, there were no windows to speak of, and a roaring fire was against the back wall. Around the fireplace was some assorted chairs and couches and the walls were all stone, just like most of the castle.

Rose clearly was just as surprised as he was by the room, so when he looked to her for explanation she didn't respond right away.

"Rose?" He asked, trying to get her out of her daze.

"Oh right sorry!" She said, her eyes quickly snapping back to him. "Well, this is the Room of Requirement, also known as the come and go room. Its purpose is to create a room that suits the person's needs. All one has to do is walk in front of the wall and repeat in your head what you would like it to become, and then it appears for you."

"It's perfect." He said, smiling at her. They quickly dove into the deserts, neither one having finished their dinner in anticipation to see each other and they began to talk about their day, and how boring it was without one another.

"So when did you know. I mean, you were going out with Ben, was it the kiss that made you change your mind?" Scorpious asked. It was the question that he had been a little afraid to ask but was dying to know the answer to.

"No. I figured it out before the kiss. That's what made me so upset that day. Well, that mixed with a few other things. I was sad really; I thought we would never happen. That's why I kissed Ben on the pitch after the game. I was trying to fall in love with him so I wouldn't have to fall in love with you. I thought that if I fell in love with you that I would never be able to have you and I would only end up hurt. I was a bloody mess that week." She laughed softly and had another bite of cake. "What about you? How long did you know?"

"I knew before that. When you first told me you were going out with Ben I started to put it together. Just the way I felt watching you two, you know? It took me a bit to figure out why."

"I know what you mean." Rose said. "I never, ever thought I would be having this conversation with you. Not last year, not even last week." Scorpious nodded his head. If he had suspected last year that he would be in love with Rose, he would have checked himself into the hospital wing. But now…

The two of them talked through the rest of desert, both of them so happy to be with one another. Scorpious loved talking with Rose, really he did, but he also wanted to kiss her again like he had the first time. He had never felt so alive in his entire life but he didn't want to seem like he was moving anything too fast. He was not going to screw up his relationship with her. So he was relived when she made the first move, kissing him on the couch next to the fire. It started out slow, soft and simple. But then she deepened the kiss, bringing him closer to her, tangling her fingers in his hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist, getting rid of any space left between them. Everything around him seemed to fade away. He was entirely Rose. Her hair was around his face now as she leaned over onto him. Everything about them was in harmony. Everything about them was perfect.

After a while though the kiss got more passionate, like a new fire was raging through Rose. At first Scorpious was equally responsive, but he started wondering where this would lead. This was their first real 'date' so were they moving too fast? Should he stop it now before it became more serious? As much as it pained him to do so, he pulled back from her and straightened up.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, her concerned face breaking his heart a little.

"It nothing Rose, it's just… don't you think we're moving a little fast? It's our first date after all." He said. "You're really important to me Rose, I just don't want to mess anything up with us." He tried to read her blank face.

"You're right." She said after a few seconds (although it felt like an eternity to him). "I want this relationship to last too." She gave an almost sad smile to him.

"I love you Rose." He told her quietly.

"I love you too." She said, kissing him softly.

Rose was leaning against Scorpious' chest staring at the fire, talking quietly as he ran his fingers through her hair. Scorpious couldn't help but feeling so at ease, wishing he could stay here with Rose forever. As the night went on they started sharing long, comfortable silences as they both became a little more tired. Without realizing it, they both began to drift off to sleep, wanting to stay in each other's arms eternally.

**So please please please review. And tell me your favorite other character in the story. You know you want to ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Good morning everyone! First off, a HUGE thank you to SophiiHannah, Breenie, xenorinn, Avanell, MusicalMarvel, NeS MoOny, SillyMistake, and an anonymous reviewer for reviewing! I think this was the most reviews I have ever gotten on a chapter, so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I really do listen to everything people say in reviews, and so thank you so much for telling me your favorite characters! I'm glad many of you like Lily and Al, so you will be seeing more of them, I promise! **

**But if you haven't already, please tell me who your favorite character is (besides Rose and Scorpious) in the reviews! And if you have, than review the chapter and make my day! **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 13

The next few weeks few by for Rose, and before she knew it she was standing in the Great Hall for the last time before winter break. She was walking to her table to eat the feast that always happened before the train left the next morning when Hugo ran up behind her.

"Rose! Rose!" He yelled as he ran down the center of the Great Hall.

"Yes Hu?" She turned to face him.

"I can't find my broom! I swear I brought it back to my room after practice, but it's gone missing!" His poor face looked terribly distressed, his eyebrows were deeply furrowed.

"Go ask Al, I thought I overheard him saying he was going to scare you yesterday." She said, pointing out Al at the table. Hugo ran over to him as Rose took her seat between Rebecca and Mackenzie.

"Hey stranger, where were you?" Mackenzie asked.

"Oh, just getting in some last minute studying. I wanted to finish something before I started packing tonight." Rose lied convincingly. She was actually with Scorpious in the room of requirement, quickly exchanging Christmas gifts.

It had taken her a long time to figure out what to get him. Although quidditch seemed like the obvious place to look for a gift, she really didn't understand it well enough to guess what he would want. So she opted for something that was more for them instead. She had taken two journals that she had never used (she didn't really have time to write in a journal) and put a charm on them so that they would show what the other person was writing in theirs. So if Rose wanted to send a note to him over the holidays all she would have to do was write in her journal, and it would appear in his.

But Rose adored the present that Scorpious had given her. It was a small rose necklace, and the rose was made out of a red crystal that literally glowed softly. It was delicate but unbreakable, and Rose now wore it under everything. She was going to show it to her friends after Christmas and pretend that Lily had gotten it for her. Granted it was nicer than the presents she and Lily usually exchanged, but her friends wouldn't know that.

"I haven't even started packing!" complained Mackenzie as she took another bite out of her potatoes. "I mean really, I always do this to myself. There is no way that I will be able to find all of my quidditch things and my homework and my clothes before tonight. I'll probably still be packing when the train leaves tomorrow." She sighed in mock despair.

"You say this every year, you'll be fine." Becca said laughing. Mackenzie did become a bit of a drama queen around travel. She was always worried about something or another before a trip started.

"Rose, have you started packing yet? Maybe you could help me." Mackenzie suggested.

"Sorry, but I haven't even opened my trunk yet. I'll be just as bad as you are tonight, but I'll probably sleep on the train anyway." She said, sadly remembering that she wouldn't see Scorpious over break. How that thought killed her.

"Well, don't forget Rosie that we are going straight to the burrow this year, so don't bother bringing things like school books, I doubt you'll get any work done." Hugo reminded her.

"I love the burrow, but why can't we go home for just 48 hours before going there? I hardly get any sleep over holiday because of you, Al, and Fred. Honestly, I still don't understand why they let you all share a room." She said exasperated.

"Oh believe me, neither do I." Al said. "Out of pure necessity, right Hu?" He laughed as Rose glared at him.

The size of the burrow had apparently been a problem pretty much right after the end of the war. After Fred's death, Mrs. Weasley was adamant about having every single one of her children at the burrow for Christmas. However, once her children all began to get married and have children it was nearly impossible to fit them all in the burrow, so one Christmas all of them chipped in to give the burrow another few floors that it so desperately needed. Although the new floors were certainly helpful, no one had really anticipated how many kids would be in the Weasley family. 13 children are a lot to have to fit into a few cramps floors. The bunking system was crazy and there was literally no privacy at all.

As much as Rose loved the burrow, these holidays end up being a bit taxing and found herself lacking more sleep after the trip than before. Never the less, she was still excited as she packed her bags that night with Mackenzie.

"Do you think I should bring the scarf I ripped home to see if my mum can fix it?" Mackenzie asked Rose as she stuffed things into her trunk.

"Probably. You realize there is no point in folding that one shirt when you have bunched the rest of them right?" Rose laughed and continued with her packing.

"Well, I need a nicer shirt to wear pretty soon after I get home, so I want to have at least something that looks clean." She said defensively.

"Why do you need a clean looking shirt? You have lots of other shirts that are 'clean' that you've stuffed." Rose reminded her.

"I'm just seeing a friend at the beginning of break and I don't want to look like a slob." Mackenzie saw the quizzical look on Rose's face, "Just, forget I mentioned it." Mackenzie continued packing but Rose was now completely distracted. She practically skipped over to Mackenzie.

"So who is he?" Rose asked her in a sing-songy voice.

"Who is who?" Mackenzie said innocently.

Rose turned around to sit on her bed, "The guy you are so clearly seeing over break."

"Rosie, it's not like that. He's really just a friend. I promise." Mackenzie tried to assure her.

"Well then if it's _just_ a friend than who is it?"

"It's just Henry, I just don't want to look like a slob though, ok? We're just going over quidditch stuff over the holiday. It's really no big deal." Rose thought that she seemed like she was assuring herself of this more than Rose.

"Mhm hm. Ok, whatever you say." Rose said as she hopped off the bed and went back to packing. "So Mackenzie, do you fancy anyone right now?" She asked teasingly.

"Rosie, I don't like him that way. We are just friends." Rose decided just to let her stay in denial for a little longer. Merlin knows Rose stayed there for a long time.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop bugging you about it." She promised as she threw her last remaining things into the trunk. "I. Am. Officially. Done." She said as she slammed the lid shut. "Thank goodness."

She laid down on her bed and shut her eyes. Oh the chaos tomorrow will bring….

"Alright everyone, now I am assigning rooms." Mrs. Weasley yelled out over the people gathered in her kitchen. It was dark outside, almost nighttime and everyone was desperate to unpack and change. The buzz of whispers was so loud that Mrs. Weasley had to holler to be heard.

"Ok, right then. Hermione and Ron, you are in Ron's old room. Harry and Ginny, in Ginny's old room. Bill and Fleur, in Bill's old room. Percy and Audrey, Percy's old room. George and Angelina, George's old room. Charlie you are on the far right of the 7th floor and Al, Hugo, and Fred are in the room next to that. Then Lily and Rose, you are on the 8th floor. Victoire and Dominique, you are in the room next to theirs. On the next floor up is Teddy, James, and Louis on the right side room and Lucy, Molly, and Roxanne on the left. I think that takes care of everyone." Mrs. Weasley looked relieved to have that over with and started sending people up the narrow stairway.

Rose felt immediately at home among the burrows creaking floors and smell of something delicious constantly baking. She loved the feeling that it had been here for forever and that all of her aunts and uncles had been children in this house. She loved the view outside her window of the garden and the way the light poured in every morning. She loved being with her family.

"Rosie!" Dominique yelled out from a floor above her. "I haven't seen you in forever!" Rose laughed and smiled back up at her. She made her way up the stairs and to her room and almost collapsed on the bed. This had been a nearly impossible journey with two trunks and an owl.

Victoire popped her head into her room. "Lily, did I hear you come in?" She asked before seeing Rose on the bed.

"No it's me," Rose smiled.

"Rosie!" Victoire gave her a big hug. "I can't believe you are so old now. You make me feel old!" She laughed as she pulled away to look at her. "Wow, 6th year. Merlin, I can't believe that. How exciting!" She squealed as hopped onto Rose's bed.

"How are you and Teddy?" Rose asked.

"We're great. Married life is good." Victoire said with a bit of a secretive smile. "How are you Rosie? Do you have a boyfriend yet?" Of course the first question out of her mouth was the one question Rose was so desperately trying to avoid. But she had a plan.

"Well, I had a boyfriend. But I broke up with him. It wasn't anything serious though." She added, looking at Vic's face.

"Who was it? Was he cute?" She asked, smiling widely.

"He was cute, his name was Ben. He's in Ravenclaw." Rose told her plainly, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"Why did you two not work out?" She asked Rose, looking more concerned now, as if it had just occurred to her that they were no longer together.

"He just wasn't right for me. It wasn't a really dramatic break up; it wasn't even a dramatic relationship. Honestly, it's nothing to get excited about."

"But he was your first boyfriend." Vic protested. Rose knew Victoire was clearly not satisfied with the amount of information Rose was giving her, but Rose wasn't going to budge. She was not going to tell her about Scorpious, the only person that would know would be Lily. That was it.

"Yes, and I promise you he won't be the last." Rose assured her. "When I get a more interesting boyfriend I will tell you all about him, ok?" Rose smiled at Victoire face.

"Ok. But if you would let me play with your hair just for 20 minutes…" Vic started before Rose cut her off.

"Vic, no." Rose said, backing away instinctively.

"I'm not trying to hex you or something!" Victoire said laughing. "I just want to give you one quick makeover, nothing permanent. You could wash it all off if you hate it." She gave a smaller version of her signature pout. Normally Rose would say no right away to this… it could only end it trouble. But then again, Victoire was the most gorgeous girl she knew. If she could make Rose look anything like her…

"How long would this take?" Rose asked, defeated.

"Yay!" Victoire practically squealed as she dragged Rose to her room and sat her down in front of a mirror. It was one of those old three paneled makeup mirrors that she was surprised the Weasley's even owned, but of course they placed it in Victoire's room. Dominique was there too, unpacking her things.

"Vic, you didn't." Dominique said as she walked over to where Rose was sitting.

"Oh please, I did the same thing to you in your 3rd year. Come help me." She beckoned her with her fingers.

Dominique was not nearly as girlie as Vic was, she was much more athletic beauty compared to Victoire's more classic beauty. But she still picked up a hairbrush nonetheless and started going after Rose's hair. They turned her away from the mirror so that she would get the full effect of the before and after. It was amazing to Rose how quickly their hands worked, brush strokes and curling spells and little things put on here and there. They were working in perfect harmony, never getting in the other's way. Rose listened to them as they talked about the family gossip, about how it was surprising how much Roxanne looked like a young Tonks even though she had never met her and wasn't related to her, about James' new girlfriend, about Uncle George's new idea's for his company, about everything. Rose was so interested in one of Vic's stories about Teddy that she didn't even realize they had stopped working on her.

"Are you ready Rosie?" Victoire asked her.

"Why not?" She replied as they spun her around to face the mirror. Rose had to admit; she looked good. Really good.

Her hair had something in it that made it a little... brighter almost, like it caught the light in all the right places. She had made Rose's skin look flawless, completely even and soft. Her eyelids had a certain eye shadow that brought out the different shades of brown in her eyes. Her hair was curled a little bit, but still kept very natural so that it hung gracefully and framed her face. Her lips were a little redder than usual, with a bit of gloss on them so they shined. She looked still like herself, just a more enhanced, polished version.

"You look beautiful Rose." Victoire said as she hugged her from behind. "You always did."

"How did you do this?" She asked them, still a bit surprised at how well it turned out. Victoire quickly showed her everything, from the gloss to the hair spell and then let her keep everything they used.

"Victoire, I can't let you give this to me. It's way to much." Rose protested.

Victoire threw her hands up, refusing to take back anything. "Just consider it an early Christmas present. Most of that stuff I've never even opened; it looks better on you anyway. Besides, it gives me an excuse to go shopping." She smiled at Rose.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked again.

"As long as you use it, I'm sure." She winked at her before giving her one last hug. Rose walked back to her room, her arms laden with gloss and powder.

"What happened to you?" Lily asked as she walked into their room. "Did Vic finally convince you to let her give you a makeover?" Lily grinned at her, already unpacked.

"Yes, why? Does it look bad?" Rose asked, feeling a little self-conscious.

"No no, it looks really good. I remember when I let Vic do that to me in 2nd year. It was fun, she's really good at makeovers."

"No kidding. Do I look really different though?" She asked.

"No, not really different. I'm already starting to become used to it. I'm sure someone will like it when you get back to school though." She smirked as she rearranged a few things on the dresser.

"Lily," Rose said in a warning tone.

"What? It's not my fault you're dating the hottest Slytherin _and_ you decided to make it a secret. Very little is more romantic than that Rosie." Rose couldn't help but smile, it was true. She was completely in love with him, everything about him. The way he kissed her, the thrill of their secret relationship, the way she felt so safe in his arms, the way she could talk to only him, everything about him made her smile.

"How are you and Collin?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"We're good. I think. You never really know where you stand with that boy, he's a little bottled up I think. I try to get him to talk about his past and the things that scare him and he won't budge. I can't help but feeling that the relationship isn't going anywhere, you know? I like him, but I don't feel as in love with him as say you do with Scorpious."

"Shh!" Rose said, worried that Vic might have heard through the wall.

"Oh fine, we'll call him S. That way you can pretend it's one of your strangle muggle authors whose books you love so much. There was one that started with an S, right?"

"Are you referring to Shakespeare?" Rose asked, a little put out that no one understood her enjoyment of some muggle books.

"What is that, a vegetable? Oh well, it will work. Anyway, I just don't feel that same… connection. I don't know. Maybe we've just reached a low point in the relationship."

"I'm sorry Lily. But you've always been much wiser than me when it comes to boys, so I'm sure you'll figure out what you want to do."

"Thanks Rosie." She said as she let down her hair from the bun she had put it in earlier. "I'm glad you and S are so happy though. Really, I am."

"Thanks Lil." It already hurt her to be away from him and it had only been a few hours. How will she survive a whole break? She buried her face in her hands.

She opened up her journal and grabbed a quill. She began to write:

_I miss you. I know it seems too soon to miss you, but I do. You might have to come and rescue me, I don't think I can take being away from you for the whole break. _

He quickly wrote back, she could feel the enchanted spine of the journal getting warm as the writing appeared.

_I couldn't agree more. I think that if I hear my father say another nasty thing about the people I go to school with it will kill me. The way he talks about them is just sickening. _

_ I'm sorry. _Rose wrote back, _I guess this wouldn't be the time to tell him about us? _

_ No, not at all. Do you think we could just avoid him entirely? Like, I graduate and then never see him ever again?_

_ Hm, that might be a bit hard to accomplish, seeing as you wouldn't have a place to go with no money. _

_ I could come home with you. _

_ We haven't told my parents yet either Scorp. _

_ True. But we shouldn't tell them now. It's too soon. _

_ I agree. I think until we are really sure we can handle all of what will come with us admitting it, we should just wait. Merlin knows I don't need more stress in my life. _

_ I wish I could be there to take some of your stress away. _

_ I wish you were here too. _

_ I'm sorry Rose, but I have to go. My father is yelling at me from downstairs, something about seeing a friend of his… this can't be good. I'll write to you as soon as it's over, I promise. _

_ Ok. I love you. _

_ I love you too. _

She closed the journal, sad that her one source of relief from the craziness going on around her was officially gone. At least for a little while.

She would go find her parents, talk about her first semester. Make it seem like she had nothing to hide.

She had never lied to her parents like this before. Oh Merlin, what would her father say when he found out?

She tried to calm herself down. Just relax.

Just breathe.

**There is a review button down there...click it, I dare you :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone!**

**Let me start by saying I'm so so so sorry this has taken me this long to update. A lot has been happening these past weeks and this story sadly had to fall to the bottom of the list. However, I hope to be posting on a quicker schedule now that my life has a bit more order to it.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really love suggestions about where you want the story to go or what things you would like to see in it (along with what you already write, because that is fabulous as well). Coolcarissa11, I loved your idea so I put it in this chapter. Hope you like it!**

**Enjoy :) **

Chapter 14

The eve of Christmas Eve was always one of the best parts of winter holiday for the Weasley kids. They would all gather on the highest floor of the burrow to talk and play games all night long. It was one of the few times in a year that they were all in one room together, and it was one of Rose's favorite traditions.

This Eve of Christmas Eve was no different. The children all excused themselves from Grandma Weasley's delicious dinner a little early, claiming to be very tired after a long day of playing quidditch and helping to decorate the burrow. Once they brought their dishes to the kitchen they went upstairs to Teddy, James, and Louis room where they shrank all the furniture and moved it to the sides of the walls. The sat in a circle, now varying greatly in height and age (because Vic and Teddy were still adamant about being included in the circle). Fred (because he was the youngest) and Teddy (because he was the oldest) began their annual ceremony.

"Member's of the Weasley family, we welcome you to the Christmas Circle." Fred began. "We will start with our eldest, as we always do, and work our way around the circle. Teddy, the floor is yours." The tradition was to start every ceremony by going around the circle and telling everyone what you have been up to recently. This was actually where Teddy and Vic announced their engagement to the rest of the family not too long ago.

"Well, I think I might be promoted this year to a higher position in the auror office, so that's exciting." Teddy said, shifting in his seat on the floor to get comfortable.

"Congratulations!" Fred said.

"Thanks Freddie. But I've been working a lot lately though, so there isn't much else to report. Sorry." He said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"That's ok. Roxanne?" He said, going around the circle.

"Hm, well we pulled off a good Halloween prank, and our Thanksgiving prank was decent as well, but I have yet to figure out a start of term prank, so I'm open to suggestions."

"Rox, we told you. We have an idea for the prank." Hugo said.

"Yes well, we all agreed that it was too boring. We need to get more creative." She said as Hu rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm thinking about putting some purple back in my hair like I did last summer. I liked how that looked. And I got new combat boots," she said, sticking out her foot to show them. "I don't think there is really much else to say with me.

"Purple Rox. Really. I thought Mum told you not to do stuff like that without their permission." Fred said.

"No no, that was about the nose stud. Besides, it so small you can hardly see it." Fred rolled his eyes, "Molly, how do you like first year?"

"First year is great. I've made loads of new friends in Gryffindor. I'm getting really good grades. I'm considering joining a chess club. It's been really wonderful." She concluded with a smile.

"That's great Mol, really. Ok Lily, give us your semester."

"A lot of quidditch. Tons, but we're really good this year, thanks to Al's wonderful coaching." She laughed and continued, "Classes have been getting harder though, it's been a little tough, but not bad."

"And she got a boyfriend," Hugo interrupted. Lily shot him a glare so cold it could have frozen the tropics.

"You have a _**what**_?" James asked, incredulous.

"I have a boyfriend, his name is Collin." Lily said stiffly, clearly not wanting to have this conversation.

"How long as this been going on?" He demanded, his face beginning to get red with anger.

"Since the beginning of term, why do you care?" She asked defensively.

"You're too young to have a boyfriend!" He spurted out.

"That's ridiculous, you dated that idiot Clarissa in your 4th year!"

"That's completely different."

"No, it's not!" she fired back.

"Guys…" Fred said, "Cool down."

"Why should you have any say over who I date?" Lily insisted, getting more furious.

"Because I'm your older brother! I don't want you dating some tool whose going to use you." He said, straightening up.

Her face started getting redder, "Oh, so I can't chose who I date?"

"Guys! Relax!" Albus said.

"Look, you're my little sister, I'm just trying to look out for you." He said, quieter now.

"James, I'm not a child. I can look out for myself." She replied.

"Fine, then who is he? Hm?"

"He's a Ravenclaw. He's a very nice bloke. And if you would just trust me, then I'm sure you guys would get along. It's not even that serious."

"That's not exactly comforting." James said.

"He really is a nice guy James." Al said. "Trust me, I talked to him once they started dating."

"You _**what**_?" Lily turned to him. "You promised you wouldn't give him the big brother speech Al!" Lily said, quickly growing furious.

"Now listen, Lily. I know what you said, but I just wanted to talk with him. So I just spoke with him in the library one day, it was no big deal. I just wanted to make sure he was a good guy. And he is." Al defended himself.

"Why are you all so concerned about me? Don't you realize that Al is now in a serious relationship with Olivia and Rose had her first boyfriend this year," to which James also raised an eyebrow at Rose, "and lots of other people my age are in relationship and are perfectly fine. It's not that big a deal."

"We're just trying to protect you," James said.

"Well I'm really happy, so I don't need your help." She responded, calmer now.

"Well, I'm happy you're happy Lil." James said.

"You should be." She said, now letting just a bit of a smile show.

"So Rose got a boyfriend?" Fred asked amusedly.

"Thanks a lot Lily," she muttered before facing the group. "Yes, his name is Ben. He is also a Ravenclaw. We're no longer dating. Yes, it was a shortish relationship. No, he didn't do something wrong, I just didn't feel a connection. No, it wasn't a nasty break up. Yes, I'm really ok that it ended." Rose gave her monologue and then looked to the group for questions. "My grades are good, I've been keeping up with my work. It so much harder though now, I sometimes wonder if I'll scrape with decent grades." The whole circle rolled their eyes or snorted in disbelief. "Hey! I don't always do perfectly well in school." She defended herself, trying not to sound like a nerd.

"Have you gotten a Poor on anything Rosie?" Hugo asked.

"Well, not exactly no…" She muttered.

"Then I think you'll be just fine." He said, humor in his voice.

"Anything else Rose?" Fred asked. Anything else? Yes, she was secretly dating an incredibly attractive Slytherin who told her frequently that he loved her and she missed him far more than she was willing to admit.

"Nope. Pretty basic semester." She lied.

"Ok, Lucy, your turn."

The conversation continued to go around the circle for the next hour, then a game of truth or dare (which you should never ever play if a Weasley is daring you) that Rose nearly missed a question about who her secret crush was (although she wouldn't have answered it truthfully anyway) and then played a very intense game of exploding snap before going to bed. As Rose walked down stairs she reflected on other Christmas' past. It was strange to think she was almost out of school, almost off in the real world. How could she possibly prepare herself for that?

She thought about writing to Scorpious before going to bed, but she was too tired. She simply closed her eyes and fell back into a restful sleep.

Rose woke up to the sound of shrieking. Which in the Weasley household was _**never**_ a good sign.

"Oh my god! What have they done to my hair!" The distinct voice of Roxanne bellowed as she ran down the stairs, banging her feet against the wooden boards. "I am going to kill you when I get down there!" She yelled, passing Rose's floor. James, Albus, and Hugo (normally with a little help from Fred or Roxanne) always do a prank of Christmas Eve to a random Weasley family member. Unfortunately, the chosen one this year was Rox, and she was not pleased.

"I said I was considering making it purple, not REVOLTING SHADE OF GREEN!" She roared at them as she clearly got to their room. Rose was sure she started hearing a slew of curse words from Rox and some well-done hexes before she began her climb up the stairs again. By now the entire house was probably awake, no one could have missed that show. "Victoire!" She yelled as she came up the stairs. "Help me fix this!" She groaned as she knocked against the door.

Rose could hear Vic get up in the next room, "I'm coming I'm coming." Rose heard the door swing open. "Oh dear Merlin. That color is just…" even Victoire was lost for words.

"Wretched? Yeah, I know. Is there anything you can do it fix it?" She asked, clearly very concerned.

"I would have to know if it was a spell or a potion they put on your hair." Victoire concluded, probably sorting through her options. She heard Roxanne turn on her heals and march back down stairs.

"Was it a potion or a spell? Answer me Albus Severus Potter!" She said, probably with her wand at his throat. He muttered something she couldn't hear and then Roxanne made a loud clanging noise. There was some other muttered speech and then she heard Rox coming back up the stairs.

"It was a potion they mixed into my hair last night. Here's the bottle." By now Rose decided just to get up and try to go help, so she slipped on her slippers and walked to the next room. However when she got there she stopped short.

"Merlin's beard… oh Rox I'm so sorry." It was truly the most disgusting color of…well… greenish that she had ever seen. No wonder Roxanne was so upset. Victoire was examining the bottle. "I can't figure out how to get it out. You're going to have to try and disguise the color until the potion wears off."

"Well, how long will that take?" She demanded.

"It says here anywhere from 6 days to two weeks." Victoire said apologetically.

"Two weeks! That can't happen! I'll be back at school in two weeks!" Roxanne collapsed in a chair.

"Well, I could try and change the color of your entire head of hair, but I'm not really sure if I'm qualified to do that." Victoire said. "That's actually quiet hard to accomplish and get a somewhat decent natural looking color. I'm not very good with complicated color spells."

"Oh please Vic! Just try, it can't possibly get worse than this." Roxanne begged her. It was hard to refuse given the look in her eyes.

"I'm not sure if I could pull off the Weasley Red though. That's got a lot of high lights and low base colors that I just couldn't duplicate."

"Ok fine. Make it purple." Rox said plainly.

"Purple? You want me to make your hair purple?" Victoire asked skeptically.

"Just until the green wears off. It will be easier for you to duplicate anyway." Roxanne told her.

"Ok, I'll try." Victoire grabbed her wand, "What shade of purple do you have in mind?"

"I don't care, just pick what's easiest for you to envision."

Victoire bit her lip, "Ok, here is goes." She winced as she muttered the incantation. Rose was surprised at how well the transformation went, it actually was a nice looking purple color. But it reminded her of the only other person she had ever seen with purple hair.

"You look like Tonks." Dominique said. "It's a little scary actually how similar you too look once you have the hair. I mean, your face is different, and so are your eyes. But the rest of you looks… extremely similar."

"You're right! Oh no, I must have been subconsciously thinking of the old picture of Tonks when I thought of purple hair. I can try and change it if you want Rox." Victoire offered softly, all of them now remembering the mother-in-law that Victoire never knew.

"No. I want to keep it. I like it, it reminds me of her." Roxanne said, combing her fingers though it. "Now I'm off to go kill your brother Rosie. Well, along with his cohorts." Roxanne stood up, her boots clomping against the wood floor. Rose laughed as Rox winked at her on the way out before going down stairs.

"I'm getting dressed." Rose said, rolling her eyes but still smiling as she left the room.

"I'll see you at breakfast!" Vic called over her shoulder.

Breakfast on Christmas Eve was very similar to breakfast on Christmas morning, which meant it was delicious. It was far too much food then you would think you would need, and yet all of it was consumed. Rose was watching Fred drown his pancakes in syrup when Roxanne came downstairs in front of a very timid looking Hugo followed by equally timid looking Albus and James. Clearly Rox had done something to mess wit them, but what?

"Ok Weasleys, be good. I want everyone to look nice for the family photo tonight, so that means I don't want anyone getting hurt during quidditch or" Mrs. Weasley took a surprised breath, "Good heavens! What in Merlin's name did you do to your hair Roxanne?"

"Oh, I didn't. Someone else did it for me." She said smugly.

"You wanted to turn it this purple color?" She asked disbelievingly.

"No, this color was a mistake. As was the amount of it in my hair." She continued to smile pleasantly, causing the three boys to shrink into their seats.

"Well, I suppose we can try and cover it with a hat for the photo. Anyone else plan on changing colors? Orange skin for you Albus?" Mrs. Weasley asked, causing Al's face to become very white.

Roxanne smirked as sat down in her seat. "Hugo, do you want some surup?" She offered, a kind smile plastered strangely on her face.

"No!" Hugo almost screamed, as if not wanting surup on his pancakes wasn't unusual enough. Mrs. Weasley eyed them skeptically but brushed it off and continued fiddling about in the kitchen.

After breakfast the Weasley clan gathered in the garden to try and take their annual family photo.

"Ok Weasley's listen up!" Rose's grandmother practically shouted. "I want the adults in the back row and the children in the front row, try to get it in height order." The group was a mess as always. Fleur was complaining about the cold, Fred was trying to make sparks come out of someone's stolen wand, Lily was arguing with Louis about quidditch, Ron had refused to wear his Weasley sweater for the picture, George was no where to be found, and Mr. Wealsey was still trying to convince Molly to use a muggle camera for the picture instead.

"Merlins beard!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed in frustration. "Percy, you're in charge." A look of pure glee spread across Percy's face as he sprang into action.

"Ok, you should be here, no no. I meant here." He started taking people by the shoulders and dragging them to different parts of the garden. There were often cries of protest in being picked up and moved or told to stop doing whatever was distracting them from taking this picture. It took him ten minutes, but he managed to put everyone into place.

"Ok Weasleys, are you ready? One, two, three." The flash went off and Rose smiled brightly, trying to look her best in this one captured moment. She smiled like the rest of them, she made a silly face for the next picture like the rest of them, she drank butterbeer with the rest of them afterwards. But there was a part of her that felt like it wasn't truly there. And that part of her was left with Scorpious.

It was hard keeping a secret that big from her entire family. They all noticed a slight change in her that none of them could place. On one hand she wanted to tell them, wanted them to know how happy she was. But it wouldn't have the result she wanted. The image of James' furry over Lily even having a boyfriend was enough to give her a taste of what telling her family would be like. They wouldn't understand.

So she smiled. Because for that one moment, immortalized forever in a photograph, she was Rose Weasley. No secrets. No lies.

For that moment she could be only herself.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello everyone! Happy thanksgiving! I'm sorry in advance for the length of this authors note, but I have a fair amount to say so try and stay with me.**

**First off is an apology: I'm sorry it has taken me about 2 months to update. That is ridiculous and completely inexcusable and I'm really sorry. My life has been insane the past two months and I have barely had time to catch my breath. Plus, I almost gave up on this story in october. But don't worry, I'm here to stay now :)**

**Second: to Sharkfincc, I am sorry about the editing/proofreading problems with this story. You're right, it is defiantly not one of my strengths and I am still working on it. Part of the problem is I'm editing it myself with very little time spent on it so that I can write faster (because I like to write a few chapters out in advance so I make sure I am happy with the way the plot is going before I proof read and then post. So I have been writing recently, just not posting. Again, really sorry about that.) Also, I have no beta to consult with either, so I'm the only one who reads these before they get posted. **

**Third and Lastly: Please please please please please please review. I know how annoying it is for authors to beg for reviews, but it means so much to me to know that people are actually out there reading this story. I love to hear what your favorite parts are, or what I can work on, or what you want to see. It really brightens my entire day and makes me so excited to write. So please review. Thank you :) **

Chapter 15

"Rose! Wake up wake up wake up!" Fred said as he jumped up and down on her bed. She surrounded her face in her pillow.

"What time is it?" She groaned.

"It's Christmas morning! Get up!" He yelled at her and continued to jump. He soon hopped off her bed and went over to Lily's still yelling at them until they showed some kind of awareness.

"We'll be downstairs in a minute Fred, promise." Lily said to make him shut up. Satisfied, he walked out of their room and into Victoire and Dominque's.

"Can you believe that only a few years ago that was us?" Lily asked her. "I mean really, that amount of energy at this hour in the morning… if only I could replicate half of that for our exams." Lily got out of bed and pulled on slippers. "We better get up before he comes back." She made a good point, so Rose dragged herself out of bed and downstairs.

The Christmas tree looked wonderful in its early morning glow, completely packed with presents from everyone. The tree was a little bit crooked, filled to the brim with decorations, and its lower branches had been mangled by the smashing of presents under it. Rose began to search for the ones with her name on them, which were normally heavy and rectangular.

Rose normally got many books for Christmas because everyone in her family knew how much she was like her mother in that respect and wanted to share with her whatever they liked through books. This year was no different. She unwrapped a book about uses for dragon elements from uncle Charlie, a book about how quidditch played into wizard history from uncle Harry, a book about pulling off pranks with limited resources from uncle George, a book about hair and make-up from Dominique, a book about Chess strategy from Hugo (like she really needed help), a book about knitting from Grandma, a book about interesting muggle inventions from Grandpa, and the list goes on and on. The only people who didn't get her books were her parents and aunt Ginny, who always got her something pretty like jewelry or a dress. This year was no exception. Her parents got her an owl for making prefect and because she and Hugo were having a hard time sharing the family owl (which according to Rose was not _her_ fault). But it was Aunt Ginny's present that surprised her. She felt lucky that no one saw her open it because she turned rather red when she took it out of the box. It was a little black dress that Rose could tell just by looking at it was fairly tight and backless, two concepts Rose was not familiar with. Part of her was a little embarrassed by the grown-up quality of this dress, but another part of her was slightly relieved. It was about time she had something like this in her closet now that she actually had a boyfriend…although the idea of her wearing this in front of him made her blush again. She placed it back in the box to try on later and continued to open other presents.

Later that day as Rose sat by the fire cracking open the spine of a new book Aunt Ginny came over and sat down next to her.

"I thought I might find you here." She said smiling at her.

"Well, I'm not really one to play quidditch. Especially in the snow like today." Rose glanced out the window at Al who was soaring around the pitch.

"So how is school Rosie? I never heard any stories from you." She tucked her legs up and curled her arms around them. "6th year is a big one… I remember mine. Sometimes more then I would like to." She shuddered and gave Rose a sad smile.

"You were really brave Aunt Ginny. I don't think I could have done what you did." She said quietly while watching her aunt, clearly lost in her memories.

"You're just a brave Rose. You just haven't had to test it yet. But enough about me. I want to hear stories from you. I heard you got a boyfriend this year." She smiled mischievously at Rose.

"Does everyone know?" She asked in desperation.

"No no, Hermione told me after she got your letter. I was the one who had to calm down Ron and convince him not to murder the poor boy who fancied you. But he came around, we reminded him about Lavender… although that didn't really help much. In fact it made him want to murder Ben even more." Rose laughed, remembering the stories she had heard about Ron and Lavender. They don't talk about her much around Mum though… it's still a bit of a touchy subject.

"When you sent the letter home saying that the relationship didn't really work out and it wasn't really a relationship at all, that got Ron to cool down. He still won't admit he was your boyfriend though. He refers to him as your friend, its cute really. He's very protective of you Rosie."

Rose rolled her eyes, "What is he going to do if I actually date someone Aunt Ginny."

"He'll come around Rosie. It might be best not to bring the boy home for a few months though… it's hard to marry someone who's dead." She smiled at Rose. "Why? Is there someone you're seeing now?" She asked coyly.

"No no, nothing like that. But if I show dad the dress you got me he might have a heart attack."

"Oh it's not that bad. It's just more… sophisticated. Besides, if you want to let Victoire dictate your make-up you should start dressing like she does too." She teased and ran a finger through Rose's hair.

"Ginny! Come help me with the pie!" Grandma called out from the kitchen.

"I suppose I should go." She stood up and tossed Rose the box that held her dress. With one last wink, she was gone.

Rose opened up the box again. Maybe she should just try it on… just to see if it fits. Rose closed her book and got up quietly from the living room, grabbing the box to take it with her. She walked up the stairs to the oddly quiet upper floors (everyone was out playing quidditch) and opened the door to her room. She slipped off the sweater and jeans she was wearing and slid on the black dress. She could tell it would need a pair of heals, which she had one pair stuffed into the bottom of her suitcase, hardly ever worn. She put on the slightly uncomfortable shoes and walked over to look in the mirror. It was a little bit scary what she saw.

Rose looked beautiful.

But a different kind of beautiful than Rose was used to. The dress was shorter than what Rose normally wore, something that she would see often on Victoire or Dominique. Although it had a somewhat basic front it was completely backless, just as she had suspected. Rose had to admit, aunt Ginny knew what she was doing, the dress was amazing. But all too soon she heard footsteps running up the stairs and didn't have enough time to hide.

"Rose," a shocked Lily said. "You look… where did you get that dress?"

"Aunt Ginny gave it to me. I was just trying it on for size… I was going to take it off though," Rose said quickly to hide her quickly redding face.

"Rosie, you look amazing. Does she know about Scor" Rose quickly covered her mouth.

"No she doesn't." Rose said, slowly pulling her hand away. "No one does but you."

Lily let out a smile, "He is going to love you in that." She teased as she took off her muddy boots.

Rose simply rolled her eyes, "Are you finally done with quidditch practice?" She asked.

"Well, the people that actually need to practice were thrown off the pitch by the adults who wanted to play, so yes."

"Then lets go play chess downstairs. I want to beat you like I did yesterday." Rose said with a big grin.

"I don't think that will be possible Ms. Weasley, but I'll let you try."

"Oh Ms. Potter, I'm quite certain it is not only a possibility, but a fact that I will beat you."

"We'll see Weasley, we'll see." Lily laughed as she ran with Rose down the stairs to grab the chess board. This ended up becoming a competition that took them all the way until dinner, and that was a feast like none other. They sat at the dining room table for two hours telling stories, eating delicious food, singing Christmas Carols, and laughing far too much. By the time dinner was done Rose was full, warm, and content. She loved the fuzzy feeling she got after Christmas dinner; it was always the best part of winter vacation for her. The kids played a few games in the living room before becoming very tired (Fred had woken them all up at a ridiculously early hour) and they went up stairs. Lily collapsed almost immediately and fell asleep, exhausted from quidditch and the chess game (which Rose had won) on top of not getting that much sleep the night before. Rose on the other hand was still awake, so she got out a book and began to read, waiting until she had heard the last person go to sleep. Once she heard the last person walk up the stairs and into their room she opened up her journal and wrote to Scorpious.

_Merry Christmas_

_ Merry Christmas Rose. I wish you were here. My father is hosting a party down stairs that he wants me to be at, but I'm trying to avoid him as much as possible. It makes me miss you even more. _

_ I miss you so much. I wish you were here too. _

_ How was your Christmas?_

_ It was wonderful. It really was, I forget sometimes at school how much I miss my family. But everyone's asleep now, it was a long day. Fred woke us up early this morning. _

_ Wait, everyone is asleep? Are you sure?_

_ Well if they aren't asleep they are at least in their rooms. Why? _

_ No reason. I have to go. I'll talk to you soon. _

_ Oh ok. Goodbye. _

_ Goodnight Rose_

Rose knew she was thinking too hard about this, but she could help but feel a bit dejected. Why did he have to leave so suddenly? Now she was left with nothing to do. Well, she could continue to read. She picked up the book she was reading and snuggled herself into her blankets, trying to fall asleep. But her mind just wouldn't settle down like she wanted it to, it just kept thinking of Scorpious. She had to try and push him out of her mind. She had to, or she would never fall asleep. She looked out her window at the falling snow, trying to not think about him. But she saw a broomstick flying though the air that reminded her of him all over again. Merlin, now she was hallucinating? That can't be good.

But no, she saw the broomstick again. But this time it had come closer, close enough for her to see a boy sitting on it. She closed her eyes and opened them again, and the broomstick was gone. She walked over to the window, peering out over the garden. There was nothing there at all. She walked back to her bed, deciding that was she really needed was sleep, but she saw something flicker past her window again. What in the name of Merlin was going on?

Then she saw him. Scorpious. On a broom and in front of her window. What was he doing here? What if someone saw him? Her eyes grew wide as he tapped lightly on the glass, as if she hadn't noticed him. She quickly cast a silencing charm around Lily so she wouldn't hear them and then opened the window.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Rose said as she helped him climb inside with his broom.

"I couldn't stand not seeing you Rose. It's Christmas." He said slightly apologetically.

"I realize that which is all the more reason why you shouldn't come flying past a house where you're not supposed to be! What if someone saw you?" She asked worriedly.

"Relax Rose, I didn't fly past your house. I knew where your window was so I flew straight to that. I saw your face trying to find me." He said calmly, although he was shivering from the cold.

She cast a locking spell on the door and took off his snow-encrusted jacket. "You really should be more careful next time," She said smiling. She kissed his freezing cold cheek and then wrapped him in her blanket. "You're shivering. Did you fly all that way in the snow just to see me?" She said putting her arms around him.

"I missed you. It wasn't that bad." He said with a shrug.

"I can't believe you did that just to see me." She said softly.

"Rose, I would fly across the world to see you." He told her quietly as he let her rest her head on his shoulder. The two of them just sat there for a second, resting in the comfortable silence. Scorpious kissed her softly on her head, running his fingers through her hair. Rose sat up and kissed him, but this time she gave him a real kiss, the kind she had been missing for what felt like forever. He kissed her back enthusiastically, trying to make up for lost time. However when Lily shifted in her bed the two of them froze, realizing they shouldn't kiss like that in front of her. They couldn't risk her waking up.

"Won't your father wonder where you are?" She asked suddenly.

"I doubt it. He never wonders where I am normally," He said a little bitterly.

"I'm so sorry." She said, wishing she could make his pain go away.

"Don't be. I'm with you."

She kissed him softly again. "What am I going to do without you?" She asked him.

"Don't think about it that way. Not now at least." Rose snuggled into him and he wrapped his strong arms around her. She began to close her eyes, thinking she would only rest them for a little while. But before long she had fallen asleep on his shoulder, so comfortable in his arms.

**Review?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi everyone.**

**I love you guys. I opened my email this morning expecting (maybe) 1 review because it was thanksgiving and you all would be with your families/friends. I got not only one, but five reviews. I cannot thank you guys enough! I actually danced around my room after that because I was so excited, so thank you! Shout out to Djtt, alicecullenisrealinmyworld, loslote, and SiriusBlack345 for making my thanksgiving so fantastic. **

**I was so excited by your reviews that I finished this chapter as quickly as I could so I could post tonight. **

**I hope you like it, there's some drama entering the story again. **

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 16

Being back at Hogwarts was a wonderful feeling.

Rose wrapped herself tighter in her blanket as she sat by the roaring common room fire while reading her Potions textbook. There were rumors of a surprise test tomorrow and she refused to be caught off guard. As she flipped the page she felt something warm against her arm. Her journal, to be specific, heating up indicating that Scorpious was writing to her. She sighed and flipped it open.

_Rose. Please let me see you. _

_ No! I have to finish studying for this test. If I fail think of how unhappy I will be._

_ You've been studying for over an hour. It's a surprise; it won't count for much of your grade. You're going to get an O on it anyway; you have on all of your homework assignments. _

_ But that's different. _

_ Not really. Come on Rosie. Please?_

_ Scorp, no. I have to finish studying. _

_ Well, when will that be?_

_ I have at least another half an hour. _

_ Then meet me in the room of requirement after that. _

_ Scorpious, we have patrol tomorrow, so I'll get to see you for a long chunk of time. I really really need to study. I want to see you too, but this is more important. _

_ Fine. You should keep studying. Besides, you're cute when you're nervous. _

_ How can anyone be cute when they are nervous? _

_ I don't know, but you are. Goodnight Rose_

_ Goodnight Scorpious _

Rose closed the journal and buried her head in the book again, refusing to get distracted. However when she heard Mackenzie and Henry come in she couldn't focus.

Apparently something had happened between them over the break because they came into the common room looking quite smitten with each other.

"When should we tell everyone?" She asked. "I mean, it's only the second week back, but it feels like we're keeping secrets." She gave a tiny laugh and leaned into him.

"How about tomorrow? At breakfast?" He beamed back at her.

"Ok, I love that idea." She kissed him softly.

"Goodnight Kenzie."

"Goodnight Henry."

They shared one last kiss before heading up the stairs, completely oblivious to the fact the Rose had been watching them the whole time. She might have been the only person in the common room but it was still shocking to her that they hadn't noticed at all. Still though, she wanted the same excitement of telling her friends about her relationship with Scorpious. But that just couldn't happen; it was too soon. It could destroy what she had with Scorpious and it just wasn't worth risking that. Oh how she couldn't wait until tomorrow night… seeing Scorpious for that long would be bliss. She let that happy thought push her through her studies as she carried on into the night.

Albus was at a loss for what to do to entertain himself. He had finished all of his work (which hardly ever happened, especially on a Tuesday night), Olivia was in her room studying for herbology, Hugo was nowhere to be found, Henry was off with Mackenzie (who had announced today that they were dating, no surprise there), and Rose was off at prefect duties. He could try and go out after hours, but what would he do? And if he sent another detention home to his parents… well… it wouldn't be a good thing. There was nothing to do and he refused to go to bed early. On a whim he decided to pull out the maurders map to find Hugo. Maybe he could catch him doing something that he could give him grief for.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He whispered as the map came to life in front of his eyes. He scanned the map for his little cousin, trying to find him amidst the other students milling about after hours. There were the regulars, the kids that always snuck out and had become better at it as time went on. None were as good as him though; he had the map.

He continued his search and found Hugo with his girlfriend, snogging in a broom cupboard. It made him smirk, thinking of his little cousin finally getting a girlfriend. In the weirdest way, it made him feel old. He had dated Olivia for…well… over a year at least. He could hardly even remember his other relationships, or why he had ever dated those girls when he could have been dating her.

He continued to search the map, mainly looking for teachers and such. He loved finding out secrets about them that he could use to his advantage. But he soon became extremely distracted by his cousin and a certain Slytherin.

Rose's dot appeared on the page, followed quickly by Scorpious'. The Malfoy boy. Slimy little Slytherin git, he didn't know how Rose hadn't murdered him already. He was watching them walk along, looking like they were going in the direction of the Astronomy tower. His eyes gazed up, no one there. He glanced around the hall they had just walked down to see all the couples they had missed. Why had they simply walked pass that door with Nicole and Robert? How could they have possibly not heard them?

His eyes turned back to the Astronomy tower, where their dots had stopped moving. Albus' eyes grew wide. No. Not possible. The map was wrong.

But he had studied this map for years, that's why he always new who the new couples were before everyone else. That's why he always knew everyone's business. He knows what it means when the dots are touching like that. But why the bloody hell would Rose be kissing Malfoy.

Suddenly, a boiling rage went through him. That slimy git is kissing his cousin! What the HELL was he doing? Why was she letting this go on?

He snatched up the map and stormed out of the common room, his hair practically on fire. He checked that his path was clear and then marched over to the astronomy tower, determined to catch them in the act. How could do that? How could she…she… snog that horrible git!

He marched up the stairs, not caring how much noise he made. He felt the color air before he reached the top, stinging his face and burning his eyes. However another wave of cold air washed over him as he saw his cousin snogging that dirty little Malfoy with reckless abandon. He ran over and pushed him off of her as Rose's eyes went wide and she gasped for air. Without wanting to waste time thinking of the proper spell, he punched Scorpious in the face, knocking him backwards. Before he could even swing his arm back to punch him again he heard Rose yell "Patrificus totalus" and his body went ridged and fell over. He looked up at the scene in front of him still steaming with anger. Rose ran over to Scorpious, who (besides the blood pouring down his face due to the punch) looked fine but a little shaken. She took her wand and wiped it over Malfoy's face, clearing it of any blood. Once she did that it was clear that Albus had broken his nose with the punch, hitting his target exactly. She muttered another spell he didn't recognize and Scorpious reached up to touch his nose, surprised.

"That will numb the pain for a little while." She said quietly, as if Al wasn't in the room. She turned slowly to face him. "Al, let me explain."

Al wanted to say a lot of things in this moment. He wanted to yell at Malfoy for kissing his cousin, he wanted to yell at her for letting him, and he wanted to yell at her for betraying them. However Rose didn't let him say these things, she simply left him frozen on the ground.

"I'm not really sure where to start." She shifted her feet and stared at the ground. "We got to know each other when we were patrolling together. At first, I sort of hated him on reputation." She gave a meek smile to Scorpious. "But then we started to become friends. And then that wasn't enough for either of us." Her eyes seem to laugh at this, maybe at the irony of her situation.

"Please don't be mad. I know you hate all Slytherins and it's probably for good reasons, but you don't know him like I do. Please Al, give him a chance. I'm going to um, well, let you talk know. Please don't be mad Al." She closed her eyes, almost as if fearing what would happen next, as she undid her spell.

Albus stood up, not sure how to proceed. He had a feeling that Rose had kept her wand by her side for a reason and really didn't want to figure out what she had up her sleeve if he attacked Malfoy again. So he instead asked a question.

"How long?" He asked breathing shallowly.

"How long what?" Rose responded.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Over two months. Al, I'm sorry you had to find out this way. Wait, how did you find out?" She asked suddenly.

"The map."

"Oh," she said quietly.

"Why shouldn't I tell everyone?" He demanded.

"Because you care about me. And you know how hurt I would be if you ruined this relationship. Al, I know it's hard for you to believe, but I love Scorpious. He's not like Draco. Please Al, give him a chance. That's all I'm asking."

"So, no one knows but me? You managed to keep it a secret for this long?" He asked, slightly surprised. Who knew she had it in her to be so… Weasleyish.

"Not exactly. Lily knows, but she's known since the beginning." Rose explained, seeming a bit more comfortable.

"I don't think I can be ok with this." He said softly.

"What?"

"I said I don't think I can be ok with this," He repeated a bit louder.

"I heard you the first time. I just hoped I was wrong." She looked into his eyes, piercing through his train of thought. So much sadness filled them, she had tears streaming down her face from earlier. Why couldn't he just be happy for her? Then he saw Malfoy and he remembered.

"You can say he's not his father, but he's still a Slytherin." He spat.

"Al do you remember when you were afraid you would be in Slytherin? Or how about how Harry was extremely close to being there too." She reminded him.

"That's different."

"How?"

He was silent. He couldn't counter that; everything she had said was true.

He looked over at the Malfoy boy, who had miraculously stayed quiet during this entire encounter. Smart bloke at the very least for staying out of what wasn't his business. He cleared his throat, as if about to say something, but then couldn't decide what to say.

"Why are you dating her Malfoy?" Al asked.

At first he looked a little surprised to be spoken to, but responded quickly enough. "Because she is the kindest, humblest, most wonderful person I have ever met." Scorpious replied as if asking Albus to challenge him.

Really, there wasn't much he could say to that. He could tell Rose he was lying, but even Albus could tell he wasn't. He could say it didn't matter, but it did. Of course it did.

But there has never been a good Slytherin. There just hasn't been, they are all evil, horrible, manipulative people. Maybe this was some kind of sick joke that he was playing on her, to break her heart and destroy her family. But Albus knew he was being blinded by hatred. He just didn't care.

"How could you lie to me for so long Rose?" He asked again. He just couldn't fathom the life she had lead for the past two months.

"It wasn't really a lie. You never asked." She said quietly.

"Is that what you told yourself to fall asleep at night?" He asked her coldly.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, the one that she let escape after trying to hold it in for so long. "Al, don't do this to me. Don't make me choose."

There was a war ranging inside of him. To see his cousin who was practically a sister to him cry like this was heartbreaking. However another part of him wanted nothing to do with her; she was a traitor now.

"I'm not going to ask you for forgiveness. I don't need it and I don't think I have to be forgiven for loving someone. All I'm asking is that you accept it. You don't have to like it. Just please keep this a secret for just a little bit longer. I couldn't take everyone finding out." Her voice hitched at the end, almost like a small gasp at seeing her doomed fate. For whatever reason, that did it. Albus melted; his body became less ridged, less forbidding. He walked towards Rose and enveloped her in a hug as she cried silently on his shoulder.

"Thank you." She added softly, almost inaudibly. He hugged her just a little bit tighter before letting go.

"If I'm gonna be ok with this," He said, backing away from her, "I want to talk with Scorpious."

"Fine." Rose replied as she wiped her eyes.

"Alone." He added. Rose stopped what she was doing and gave him a sisterly-like glare.

"Fine. But I want both your wands. And if either of you come out with blood I swear I will hex you into next week." She said to both of them, giving a very good Molly Weasley impression that seemed to make Scorpious a bit nervous.

"Fine," he said, handing her his wand. Scorpious gave her his wand as well with a little secretive smile; as if they were both happy that there relationship hadn't exploded. At least, not yet.

"Rosie, just continue patrolling. I have the map I'll have him catch up with you." Al said.

"And leave her alone wandering the halls at night?" Scorpious spoke up. "No, if you really want to have this talk now then she can go wait in a classroom. She's not going to run into trouble with no one there to help her in the middle of the night. Especially with what's going on…." He added quietly.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"Nothing." He mumbled. He must have seen the look she shot him; "I'll talk to you about it later. Just go wait for me in one of the classrooms downstairs, ok?" He almost sounded like he was pleading with her.

"I'm not a child Scorpious." She reminded him as she marched down stairs.

"I know that. Just this once. For me?"

"Fine," she sighed and continued walking.

"Come on Malfoy, let's have a little talk."

Albus trudged over to the under side of the tower with Scorpious and he could tell it was going to be a long night.

**So, that was pretty dramatic. What did you think? Why don't you tell me about it by clicking that button down there...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi everyone :)**

**I love you. I know I've said it before, but honestly guys, 7 reviews on the last chapter? THAT'S SO WONDERFUL! It means so much as an author, so thank you! **

**Shout outs to alicecullenisrealinmyworld, DevonF, SiriusBlack345, Anana553, callmedaynuhh, Avanell, and XxUniquexX for reviewing the last chapter and making my thanksgiving break so fantastic. **

**On a side note: I'm so happy you guys liked Ginny (from chapter 15, I forgot to mention this) because she took a while to get right. I wanted to make her seem like a slightly more grown up version of the Ginny we met at Hogwarts and keep her in the same feeling as the Ginny we see in the Epilogue, so I'm thrilled that you guys like her. I'm also so excited that you all liked the last chapter because getting the reaction from Al the way I wanted it was tough. I wanted him to have the conflict between loving his cousin (who is practically his sister) and hating his enemy (and the struggle of which was more important, Hate or Love).**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Unfortunately, the next two weeks are exam prep/exams for me, so I will probably only get one more chapter up somewhere in that time frame. After that I should be getting more chapters to you all (hopefully) before winter break.**

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 17

He wasn't sure what he expected, but Albus walking in on him and Rose was defiantly a surprise.

He felt a bit like a coward for staying silent during the entire fight between Rose and her brother, but what was he supposed to do? He wasn't family, he didn't truly have a say.

But this discussion was odd at best. What would Albus possibly have to say to him that wasn't just insults?

They walked under the Astronomy tower to the storage area, trying to shield themselves from the wind, as Albus was too hurried to remember to grab a jacket. They sat down awkwardly on two boxes and stared at the ground for a few minutes. Silence had settled over the pair of them, not really sure how to react to the other now that they were alone.

"So…" Albus started as he cleared his throat, "What's your favorite quidditch team?"

"The Chudley Cannons." Scorpious replied without thinking and Albus looked shocked.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because they're my father's least favorite." Scorpious replied in a bitter tone. He really didn't want to talk about his family with the Potter kid; it wouldn't end well.

But Albus didn't delve further into his reasoning, just nodded his head in silence.

"So you really like my cousin?" He asked, breaking the tension just a little bit.

"I love her actually." He replied, not needing to add a reason.

"Why all the secretism then? Are you ashamed of her?" Albus asked.

"No, not at all. It's for… our safety I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Can you imagine if our parents found out about this? They wouldn't let it last, they would do everything in their power to pull us apart." He stated simply.

Albus seemed to consider his point, "They have to find out eventually though. I mean, if you are actually serious about her."

"We've thought it through. Wait till we're of age, that way they don't have quite as much control over us."

"When is your birthday?"

"Late July."

"You were going to keep it a secret from everyone for that long?" He asked, shocked.

"We were going to try," he laughed with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "There isn't really another option." Scorpious was trying to be as nice as he could to Albus, but it was an unusual feeling not to hate someone on the Gryffindor quidditch team.

"I'm not going to tell you know," Albus said from out of the blue. "For Rose's sake." He added, as if he was trying to make Scorpious know he wasn't in the clear.

"Thanks," Scorpious said sincerely.

"But, there isn't anyone here to give you the father talk but me, so if you hurt her Malfoy, I swear I will destroy you." Albus threatened. "Don't you dare break her heart."

"Believe me, she would be the one breaking mine." Scorpious assured him.

Albus nodded his head silently. The statement hung in the air for a while, neither one really sure how to proceed.

"So, is that all?" Scorpious asked.

"Yeah, that's all." Albus said quietly.

"Ok, I'll see you around," Scorpious said as he turned to leave.

"Oh one more thing," Albus said as Scorpious was about to walk out the door, "take good care of her, ok?" Albus said softly.

"Yeah, I will. I promise." Albus nodded again and with that, Scorpious left. He walked over to find Rose, but he already knew he was in some kind of trouble.

"What did you mean?" She said as soon as he entered the room. "What current state of things?"

"It's nothing to be worried about Rose," he said, trying to seem calm.

"Well, if it's nothing to worry about then why don't you tell me." Rose said giving him a Mrs. Weasley looking glare.

"Well, it's just some talk I over heard from one of my dad's friends. Just about how his son wants to stir up some…trouble to finish out his years at Hogwarts. He's gathering up some friends of his to help him out, I think his dad was trying to 'recruit' me."

"Stop trying to be vague Scoprious, what's 'trouble'?"

Scorpious hesitated, wondering how to phrase this in the least concerning way.

"I think he's trying to get some revenge on the children of the people that won the war. Anyone who was on the good side though, so that leaves a lot of people." He added, trying to make it better.

"And you did think that concerned me!" Rose exclaimed.

Scorpious took a step back, "Rose, you would have been fine. I would have protected you."

"This might shock you Scorpious Malfoy, but I can protect myself! And quite frankly, I hardly see you at all during the day and I spend plenty of time alone. Not only that, but all of my family members here are at risk. All of them! You should have warned me the moment we got back from break!"

"Rosie, I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare you."

"Oh, how considerate. Tell me Scorpious, what would have happened if Hugo had died? Or Lily had ended up in the hospital wing unconscious? What would you have done then?" She demanded. Scorpious was in a kind of shock. He and Rose had never gotten in a fight before. How could he fix this?

"Rose, I truly am sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Never lie to me ever again. No matter how hard it is for you to tell the truth, I don't care. No matter what my reaction is. I want the truth from you. Always."

"Ok, Rose, I never meant to lie to you. I was just trying to protect you."

"I don't care what the motivation was. I don't want you to lie to me. Because if I can't trust you this relationship won't work." She got quieter now, looking into his eyes.

"Just, promise me."

"I promise." And with that he pulled her in and held her tightly, never wanting to let go.

**So...wanna review? I'm planning on some more Scorpious/Albus interaction in the next few chapters... anyone opposed? **

**Love you all 3**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello everyone!**

**First: I'm sorry for not being able to post the last two weeks. I had exams (which were awful by the way, but I got good grades on them!) so my life was taken over by studying. I'm hoping to get some more chapters up soon!**

**Second: A huge thank you to everyone who is reading/favoriting/alerting/reviewing this story! Really, I love you all so much. Thank you to Fantasywriter11, silmarien189, SiriusBlack345, Anana553, Loslote, alicecullenisrealinmyworld, and XxUniquexX for reviewing this chapter! And Anana553, I completely agree :) **

**This chapter is really short because it's just some resolution from the last chapter and an intro to the next chapter. I'm still not totally satisfied with it, but I felt bad for not posting recently so I put it up here anyway. My hope is to have the next one up tomorrow (the Valentines day chapter... I'm really excited about it). **

**Enjoy:) **

Chapter 18

"He found out?" Lily exclaimed in a hushed voice over breakfast. "How? When?"

"Yesterday night, he saw us on the map. We were sort of…snogging in the astronomy tower." Rose could feel herself blushing.

"What did he do? Did he go ballistic?"

"Pretty much. He started yelling and I had to stun him actually so that he wouldn't attack Scorpious. It was…emotional to say the least."

"So is he going to tell Ron?" She asked.

"No, no, we worked it out. I think it will just take some time to get used to. He actually talked to Scorpious last night by himself; it was pretty strange."

"Wow… so he knows now. Oh well, one more person that can cover for you guys. You know what's coming up, don't you?"

Of course Rose did, she could practically smell the love potions brewing in the bathrooms already. Valentine's day was in two weeks, ridiculously close if you asked Rose.

"Yeah, I know. I still haven't decided what we should do yet."

"You'll think of something Rosie, you always do."

"I know that, but it's our first Valentine's Day. I want it to be kind of special. What are you and Collin's doing?"

"Breaking up probably. He's not telling me anything, I feel extremely cut out of his life yet he still wants me to spend all of this time with him and open up to him. It's just not an equal relationship at all. I'm supposed to see him tomorrow at morning break and I think I'm going to break it off."

"Good for you Lil's, I never thought he was good enough for you." Rosie told her with a smile. She knew how hard it was to break up with someone.

"Yeah well, I better go. Class starts in five minutes and I forgot my potions book so I have to go all the way back to the common room to get it." Lily got up with a sigh, "See you later Rose."

Albus saw that Lily was gone and slid over to talk with her.

"So, now that I've gotten over the initial shock, I realize how great this is for me." Albus said with a smirk.

"Oh really Al? How so?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"Well, I can annoy you about this all the time, every day, and no one can tell me to knock it off because no one knows."

"Al, Lily knows. She would tell you. I would tell you." Rose said, exasperated.

"No no, Rose. I'm keeping your secret. I get to annoy you about this fully."

She stood up, "Well, you won't get the chance now because I am going to class. Goodbye Albus." She said as she walked away from him. She should have expected that, but she was hoping she'd get a little more time.

The first class of the day, potions, was a long and distracting one. She was lucky that she was pretty good at potions to begin with because Scorpious sitting behind her made it almost impossible to concentrate.

Earlier in the year, the potion classroom was divided into the Slytherin side and the Gryffindor side. However, as the year went on their professor decided this created more trouble than it was worth, so he made the two houses sit together. Scorpious and some other Slytherin sat behind Mackenzie and Rose now because of the new seating arrangements. She could hardly concentrate on what was on the board; she spent more time trying to discreetly look back at him. It was moments like these that she really was shocked her friends hadn't found out about them yet.

But Potions passed quickly enough and sooner or later Rose and Lily were walking though the common room after lunch gathering up their jackets. They walked through the portrait hall and down the moving stairs headed towards the quidditch pitch. They both had a rare free afternoon and Lily wanted to show Rose what she had been working on. Frankly, Rose didn't want to go at all, but for Lily's sake she said she would.

"After this we should try and visit Hagrid, even though we saw him together a few days ago. I'm mean, I know you dropped his class this year," Lily said, sending a glare her way. "But even though I'm taking his class I feel like I don't see him enough."

"I'm sorry Lily, it's not really my fault. I couldn't fit it on the course schedule and Mum wouldn't let me sign up for the time turner program."

"And for a bloody good reason! Rose with a time turner would be a dangerous thing. Who knows what she would do? Probably work herself half to death with that thing."

"Then stop giving me a hard time about it!" Rose insisted as they exited the portrait hall.

"Fine." Lily said as she crossed her arms. They walked down the staircases to the back hall so that they could exit the castle. Rose loved the walks they took to outside the castle, for whatever reason she could feel some of her stress being lifted from her as she did. The cold winds whipped around her face and she used her red and gold scarf to cover most of her face. Snow wasn't falling but it covered the ground and gave the grounds a crisp, white cover over the dead grass. As they walked down the path to the Quidditch pitch they saw many people, easily a full team, already flying. As they approached they saw the Hufflepuff team running drills, apparently trying to squeeze in as much practice time as possible.

"Come on Rose," Lily whispered as she pulled her under the wooden bleachers. Through the cracks they watched Hufflepuff play and Lily furiously scribbled things on a piece of parchment, probably for Gryffindor practice that evening. At first, it was interesting to watch them practice, but after a while Rose found herself becoming bored, cold, and tired. She really wanted to go back up to the warm castle before her next class started. So she whispered to Lily, "I forgot where I placed my History of Magic textbook, I have to go find it. We don't have much time left before class." Lily nodded and waved her off, never taking her eyes off the field. Quidditch, what a ridiculous sport.

Rose wandered back up to the castle and relaxed in the common room before going to her next class. The day was oddly mundane after what had happened last night, but she didn't mind in the slightest. She was fine having the drama out of her life; she didn't need it.

Rose felt content slipping back into old habits of reading her textbooks till midnight and fretting over tests that deep down she knew she was prepared for. Those little things helped the big things, like having to eventually tell everyone about Scorpious, feel less scary, less important. Here she was, carrying on with the little things in her life as if nothing had happened. As if nothing had changed.

As if she was still the same Rose.

**I know this was short, so there isn't really a lot to review, but I have a question: I'm thinking after I finish this story (which will take a while, because I have a lot of things I want to write about with it) I might write a Hannah/Neville Story because there aren't that many long ones out there. Would people be interested in that? Thanks! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi everyone! I'll try to keep this short (but you know me, my author's notes are long!) **

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Avanell, SiriusBlack345, Anana553 not only for reviewing the last chapter, but for having reviewed many other chapters as well! I love you guys so so much, thank you. **

**I'm really glad to hear people like the Hannah/Neville idea, but I have to finish this story first. I'm planning on taking this story through 7th year at least. Maybe one-shot kind of chapters after that for the big moments in their adult lives. It's not set in stone yet, but I'm playing around with how I want to end this story. But, I have a lot of ideas for their Hogwarts days. **

**Without further ado, Enjoy :)**

Chapter 19

It was Valentines Day and Hogwarts was buzzing with excitement. Everywhere Rose turned she seemed to hear girls gossiping in corners or attempting to fix their hair. Rose was trying to seem as uninterested as possible, but she did spend time actually curling her hair that morning and putting on more make-up than usual. Luckily, all of her friends were too wrapped up in their own preparations to seem concerned. Rose put the finishing touches on her outfit and went downstairs to the common room to find Albus. Sure enough, he was sitting there waiting for Olivia so they could walk down to the village together.

"I want the map. And the cloak." She said as she sat down next to him.

"The map is fine but the cloak? Really Rosie?" Al said.

"I can't really go sneaking around with Scorpious without it. We'll be too easily spotted, please? I'm sure you and Olivia will still find privacy."

Albus sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine. It's in my bag over there."

"Thanks Al," she said before going over to grab the two items and leave through the portrait hole.

She and Scorpious agreed to meet behind the Hogshead Pub so they wouldn't be spotted. It would be easier to get to him if she didn't walk down to the village with anyone, so she left before someone could ask her. She walked to the main door to the castle and gave Professor McGonagall her permission slip. With that, she was free.

It was hard not to run to the village she was so excited, but she kept her pace. Eventually, she turned a corner so she could walk behind all of the shops. Sure enough, Scorpious was there waiting for her, a single red rose in his hand.

She ran over to him and quickly enveloped him in a hug, so happy to finally be able to act like a normal couple.

"Come on," She said with a smile as she through the invisibility cloak over them. Scorpious wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her tighter so that they would both fit. First she ducked out from under the cloak and walked into the three broomsticks to get them some butterbeers. She pushed open the door to the restaurant cautiously to make sure none of her friends had gotten there first. But luckily, none had and she quickly ordered and then left. She ducked under the cloak again and handed Scorpious his butterbeer.

"I want to show you something. Or, somewhere rather." She started walking towards the edge of the street, passing Honeydukes and Madam Puddifoots. She led him down the small path to the Shrieking Shack and she could tell he was extremely confused.

"Are you scared Scorp?" she asked him with a smirk.

"No, surprised. Why here Rosie?"

"Because, we won't be disturbed. And because it's not as haunted as you might think." They walked down the long hill from the village to the shack in a contented silence, both overjoyed just to be near the other. Rose reached the front door and opened it without any fear, which seem to surprise Scorpious for a second time. Rose took off the cloak and put it in the pocket of her robes.

"The house isn't haunted at all. This is where Remus Lupin would go when he was at school to transform into a werewolf. I'm sure you've heard the stories."

"We all have. Although this detail was left out." He muttered.

"Yeah well, McGonagall would have quite a problem on her hands if all the students knew how to get off school grounds. The house connects to the Whomping Willow tree." She explained as they walked up the creaky old stairs. Traces of attempted underage magic were everywhere: on the walls where they tried to re-attach wallpaper, on the floors where they magically filled in missing floorboards, on the ceiling to stop leaks. She had only been down here once or twice with her siblings to repair the old house, but when she did it was always an exhausting task.

"What's it like? Knowing that your parents fought in the war?" He asked curiously.

"What's it like? I mean, you know, Draco was involved in the war too."

"Yeah, but not in the way your parents were."

"I dunno. It's a little weird honestly. Especially when dad showed me the action figure they made of him… it looked ridiculous by the way." She laughed and he put his arm around her waist as they walked through the house.

"Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if the other side won?" he asked softly.

"All the time. It's hard when you know how much your life would have changed. I don't even think I would be here." She trailed off as they walked into the kitchen. "But enough about sad things! What can I get you to eat?" She said as she walked over to the cupboard.

"You guys have food in here?" he asked skeptically.

"We're Weasleys, of course we have food. Although it seems like Hugo cleaned out most of it… but we still have cake!" She said laughing as she pulled out a large but half eaten piece of chocolate cake. Scorpious walked over to her and pulled out a small bite and placed it in her mouth. She slid her finger through the frosting and spread it on his upper lip before kissing it off. The two of them wore coy smiles as Scorpious reached down and took a hunk of cake off and spread it on Roses face. Rose grabbed a fair amount of frosting and started chasing Scorpious around the kitchen, attempting to get it in his hair. Shouts of laughter filled the empty house as they ran around the dinning room table. However Scorpious was much faster than her and grabbed her from behind, pulling her down onto the floor with him in a fit of laugher. The two of them lay there for a while, Rose's head resting on Scorpious' chest as they continued laughing. She ran her frosting covered fingers through his hair and kissed him lightly.

"I wish we could do this all the time." She said quietly as she pulled back from the kiss.

"I know Rosie. I do too. But you saw how Albus reacted. Imagine your whole family like that at once. I could handle it because they're not my family. But could you?"

"They're not your family yet." She corrected him with a sad smile. It was strange how she was able to say something like this in a relationship that was still fairly new. But yet, it felt completely normal because they both knew that this was more serious than a simple teenage relationship. "And no, I don't think I could take that right now. I'm not ready." She nestled back into him. "But waiting till we're both of age? Scorpious, we would have been dating for over half a year, eight months I think. I mean, keeping a secret for that long…"

"Then we can tell them sooner than that. Or maybe we tell them all one by one towards the end of the year. We can do this Rose. I know we can."

"I'm scared." Rose said softly, whispering it to him.

"I am too." Rose leaned over to him and kissed him softly and tenderly, not wanting to break the moment. He kissed her back slowly as well, cautiously almost. The two of them lay there, comforting the other from the thoughts of what was to come. She couldn't believe that she would have to face her whole family. The idea of it was sickening.

Then a thought occurred to her. "Teddy," she whispered softly.

Scorpious straightened, "Who is Teddy?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry. Teddy's my…cousin. He's Tonk's and Lupin's son." She explained.

"And why did he come to your mind just now?" Scorpious asked again.

Rose blushed and laughed, "Because, I was just thinking of someone else who has had to do this in the Weasley Family and I thought of Teddy. He married Victoire, Fleur and Bill's daughter. That was tough telling the family because they were sort of already family but not in a related kind of way. Anyway, they kept it a secret for a while too. We should talk to them."

"Yeah. I like that idea. They would probably understand."

"We should have them meet us on the next hogsmede visit. That's next month…" Rose trailed off, realizing how soon that really was.

"It will come faster than you think. What with the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff game coming up, I'm sure the Gryffindor house will be in chaos."

"Yeah, probably." She smiled at the thought. She could almost see Lily's hair on fire already. "But while they are all distracted after the game I can be with you." She said smiling and kissing him again.

"Well, there's a plus side to Gryffindor winning." He laughed.

"You would pick me over your precious quidditch team?" she asked skeptically.

"Always." She kissed him again but held it longer, not really wanting to leave this feeling so quickly.

Soon enough she was full out snogging him, making up for all the time they lost by not being able to see each other all of the time. It sent nervous shivers down her spine, being that close to him. They seemed to have no space left between them except for Rose's hands tugging at his shirt so that half of his torso was bare. Rose could feel his muscles underneath her hands and sighed, it felt amazing kissing him like this. She let everything around her fade away and let Scorpious consume her mind in the way only he could. Finally, after what felt like hours, or maybe even days, Rose pulled away from him.

"We have to go. I need to visit my uncle on the way back to school and if we're late McGonagall will kill us." Their chests were rising and falling quickly as they forgot to breathe frequently during their kiss.

"Couldn't we just sneak into school the back way and stay here a little longer?" he asked.

"No, she has her checklist with her, she'll know if we don't come back though the front doors. And besides, we're prefects. We're supposed to be setting the example for everyone else." She was trying to act serious, but a smile was tugging at her lips.

"Fine, fine. We'll leave." Scorpious said as he stood up and slid his hand around her waist. They ducked under the invisibility cloak and headed out from the house, closing the door softly behind them. As they trudged up the snow covered hill Scorpious leaned in and kissed her again.

"Happy Valentines day." He whispered.

"Happy Valentines day." She whispered back and kissed him again with a little more passion.

"I can't believe you made me promise not to get you a gift. I feel like a horrible boyfriend." Scorpious said as they continued to walk up to the town.

"Yeah, but it's better this way. If we exchanged gifts we would have to hide them probably, and I'd rather have memories than gifts."

"I love you Rose." He said to her, staring her straight in the eyes and making her forget everything that was around her.

"I love you too." She couldn't resist it; she kissed him again. She let herself go free in his arms, pouring out all of her emotions in her kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the two of them moving in perfect harmony. The snow fell around them, which created a beautiful picture that Rose didn't even see because all that mattered in that moment was Scorpious. Rose hated to break off the fire, but she knew she had to or George would kill her.

"I'm sorry love, but I have to go to George. If I don't, he'll start making assumptions. Which is never a good thing with him."

The pair finished walking up the steep hill and into the street. As she entered the avenue she saw couples walking hand in hand, stealing kisses from each other. It made her a little sad that she and Scorpious couldn't do that. Someday, she reminded herself, someday.

"I guess this is goodbye for now." She whispered even though they were hiding between two buildings under the cloak.

"I hate leaving you. This just feels so un-valentines day." Scorpious said.

"I know. But it's not for forever. Just think, this time next year we can be out in the open like a normal couple." She smiled at him.

"I don't think we could ever be normal." He laughed and moved a piece of hair from Rose's face. He stole one more kiss before ducking out from under the cloak. Rose was glad he couldn't she her beaming face as he walked away.

She let him walk for a few minutes and then took off the cloak herself, and walked out into the street.

"Rose!" Albus said as he came walking down the street with Olivia. "I was just about to go see George, you wanna come?"

"Sure, I was too." The three of them headed down the street to the Hogsmede branch of WWW to see their dear old uncle George. The entered through the jammed packed front room, trying to make their way to the back. Eventually after much elbowing and dodging, they found George standing in his back office, watching it all.

"Well, look who finally remembered to come and see me. I was beginning to worry that I would have to seek you lot out. Hullo Olivia, pleasure seeing you again. I guess I can assume my nephew hasn't been too much of a prat see you both are still together?"

Olivia laughed and threw her head back a bit, "Well, he has his moments but what can I say, I'm happy."

"Does this mean we'll be seeing you at the Easter break this year?" George asked.

"Hopefully. My family might be traveling but I think I can sneak a couple hours in before we leave.

"Well, that's good. Grandma Weasley is desperate to meet you, after all whenever she sees Al _you_ are all he can talk about." Albus' face became Weasley red and George laughed: he loved mortifying his nieces and nephews.

"And you Rosie? Any of your mysterious boyfriends coming home this year?" Rose tried to keep her composure and not go scarlet like Albus had.

"I don't have mysterious boyfriends and no, no one is coming home over the break."

"Well, if there wasn't a secret boyfriend I don't think you would be working so hard not to smile, now would you?" George said with a gleam in his eyes. Could he tell?

"I'm sorry to disappoint George, but there is no boyfriend. You'll have to do with just me."

"Oh well. So have you all pulled the Valentine's Day prank yet? I was expecting a full report but so far no one has said anything."

"At dinner- tonight, if all goes well." Albus said with a smile. "I'll owl you later about it, don't worry."

"Ok, I'll count on that. Well, I suppose I should get back to helping with the shop. You all have to return soon and I really don't want to be in trouble for not making sure you leave."

"Bye George!" They all said as they turned to leave.

"Oh, and Rose," she turned around, "if there's no secret boyfriend then what's that hickey doing on your neck?" He asked with a wink. Rose turned deep scarlet and practically ran out before Olivia could question her. It was easy to get lost in the crowded shop and she ran out the back door into the street.

She avoiding going back to the castle for as long as possible, she meandered around Hogsmede until someone told her she had to go back. She trudged up the path to the castle and had her name checked off by McGonagall. She knew she would be facing her roommates' questions when she returned and she quite frankly she wanted to avoid it as much as possible. So she checked the map and went up to the astronomy tower where she knew they wouldn't look for her. She sat out there for a long time without moving at all, not wanting to disturb her moment of peace and quiet.

She had no idea what time it was when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Rose?" the voice called out. She turned quickly, "Scorpious?" she asked. "Scorpious, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep," he muttered as he ran his fingers through his very messy hair. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"My roommate saw a hickey on my neck, I really did want to go back to her questioning. So I decided to give her the night to forget about it and me the night to come up with an excuse."

"You were going to sleep out here?" He asked.

"No, I would go back to my dorm once they all were asleep." She looked back at Scorpious again and smiled; he was an adorable mess. His hair was sticking out in 20 different directions, his eyes look exhausted; he wore a heavy cloak over pajamas and looked as tired as she felt. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's midnight. I'm sure your roommates are asleep." He said.

"Yeah, probably. But you aren't. I'm not going to let you be out here alone, you'll freeze in what you're wearing."

"You're shivering too." He pointed out.

"Well, then where do you want to go? I'm not letting you go roaming about the castle by yourself, I want to come with you."

"Rose, you need your sleep. I promise I'll go back to bed if you do too." Scorpious said.

"Scorpious, I'm fine, really."

"Please Rosie, go back to bed."

"You have the weirdest requests Scorp, you really do." She started to walk down the stairs.

"Maybe, but I don't want you being exhausted tomorrow, I'm not worth it." He laughed as he followed her down, but she stopped him when they reached the bottom.

"You're always worth it." She said and Scorpious cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly, barely parting her lips.

"No one makes me feel the way you do Rose. No one ever has."

"I love you," She whispered.

"I love you too."

They walked silently as to not be overheard in the halls and Scorpious walked all the way to Gryffindor tower with her.

"What do we do about Olivia?" Rose asked quietly before walking through the portrait hole.

"Honestly? If you think she can keep a secret, which from what you tell me about her you do, then just tell her." He whispered.

"Tell her?" She was shocked; it wasn't like Scorpious to be so trusting.

"Yeah, I mean, people will start finding out soon enough. We should just tell her, she is dating Albus after all."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rose asked.

"I reckon he doesn't like keeping it from her. Rose, do whatever you think is best, but I'm ok with telling her."

"Ok," she whispered and kissed him one last time, "goodnight." She whispered the password to the fat lady and went into the Gryffindor common room. She could go upstairs to her roommates, but a better excuse would be to say that she had fallen asleep in the common room last night after some late studying in the library. So she curled up on the couch and fell asleep, listening to the fireplace crackle in front of her.

**So, what did you guys think? Suggestions? Comments? You can click the little button down there and tell me about them!**

**Happy Holidays everyone! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello everyone! I hope you all had wonderful holidays!**

**Huge thank you to XxUniquexX, SiriusBlack345, Loslote, ilovemyanimals97, alicecullenisrealinmyworld, XandraLynne, Tabbycat270, and Avanell for reviewing the last chapter! There were so many reviews and I was thrilled to get feedback so thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I'm so glad you all liked it- it was so much fun to write! I love George (and Fred, RIP) so I had to write him into the last chapter.**

**This chapter takes a bit of a darker turn. I hope you all like it regardless, but let me know what you think. I really do value your opinion and love suggestions.**

**And hey guys- we've reached Chapter 20! Yay for milestones! **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 20

Rose woke up to the feeling of arms shaking her. "Rose, Merlin, you have got to stop doing this." Albus said. She blinked her eyes quickly and sat up, adjusting to the light.

"What time is it?" Rose asked in her disoriented state.

"It's early, everyone else is still upstairs. I thought you might want to sneak back up there before they wake up."

"No, it's better that they find me down here. That way I can just say I fell asleep studying." She yawned and stretched.

"If you say so. So, how was your valentines day?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

"It was great, thank you for asking." She responded curtly and then closed her eyes again.

"You went down to the shrieking shack, didn't you?" He asked.

"Why does it matter where we went?" She asked with a sigh.

"Well, seeing as that answer means yes, you clearly wanted a fair amount of alone time." He said raising an eyebrow at her.

"Al, it wasn't like that." She protested.

"Really? Then what was it like?" He was clearly enjoying seeing her suffering around these questions.

"Al, please, I don't ask questions about your relationship with Olivia, why can't you show me the same courtesy?"

"Because she'll tell you about it anyway if you ask, so it's not really fair for me not to ask you."

"Honestly, I don't really want to know about the things she does with my cousin. And I don't see why you would want to know what I'm doing with a Slytherin." She reminded him.

"As true as that might be, it's more fun to see you turn all Weasley red." He winked and got up from the couch. "Oh hey, did you have dinner last night?" He asked.

"No, I grabbed food on my way back from Hogsmede and studied for most of the night, why?" She asked.

"Just making sure. I think you'll see why soon enough." And with that he was gone. Oh great, another Weasley prank. At least she wasn't apart of it.

She tried to settle back into the couch and fall asleep again, but it just wasn't going to happen. So she got up and pulled out a History of Magic textbook and began to read ahead a bit, getting a head start on tonight's work. She stayed there for a little while until Mackenzie came down for breakfast. "Rose!" she exclaimed. "Where were you last night?"

"Here, getting some extra reading in. I must have dozed off, I woke up here about half and hour ago." She lied convincingly.

"Rose, you have to stop doing that. Honestly, you will become far too overworked and who knows? You might just loose it one day."

"Kenzie, I'm glad you're concerned, but honestly I'm fine. I still slept!" She protested.

"But you weren't even at dinner last night." She reminded Rose.

"I got food in Hogsmede, I'm ok, I promise." She assured her.

"Fine, go change and come down to breakfast with me. I'm starving and I'm sure you are too." Mackenzie walked over to the couch and Rose's eyes went wide.

"I'm not sure that such a great idea…" she warned.

"Why? Rose, what's wrong?" Mackenzie asked.

Rose bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, "Your lips are huge."

"What!" Mackenzie shrieked and ran over to a mirror. "Oh Merlin, you're right. What am I going to do? I look horrible!"

"Albus…" Rose said softly as she brought her hand up to cover her gaping mouth. "This was what he was talking about."

"What?"

"The Valentines Day prank." She explained. Mackenzie threw her head back in realization.

"Of course. I bet he tampered with the food to make sure it blew up people's lips."

"But Al's lips were normal, I saw him this morning." Rose told her.

"Well, he and Olivia were off doing who-knows-what during dinner, so they didn't have the food." She rolled her eyes.

"But how is this Valentine themed? Making people's lips blow up isn't creative or really _that_ funny."

"I don't know, there's probably some other element to this. It would be too simple if this was all he did. But lets go down to breakfast and find Al, I'm sure he can explain himself." The pair marched out of the tower, Rose still in her school uniform from the day before, and went to find Al. Sure enough, he was sitting at the Gryffindor table practically alone eating breakfast.

"Albus Severus Potter. What did you do with my lips!" She demanded as she stormed over to him.

"It worked!" He said excitedly and returned back to his eggs.

"Albus…" she warned.

"I can't change em back Kenz, I don't even know the potion or spell that made them that way in the first place, Rox did it." He said defensively.

"Why making peoples lips big Al? That seems rather…uncreative." Rose said as she walked up next to Mackenzie.

"They way it works is that if you drank any of the juices from last night's dinner, your lips got 'tagged' so to say. If you kissed anyone after you had dinner, your lips were 'double tagged' which means they get massive like Mackenzie's here."

"Yeah, but I bet not that many people snogged after dinner, they probably did before." Rose said.

"Trust me, you'll see many people with huge mouths this morning." Albus told them as he dove into his eggs again. Sure enough, as the hour went on people began trickling into the Great Hall with massive lips. The girls were practically in a frenzy trying to figure out who had kissed who and the professors with large lips were looking extremely guilty. Rose couldn't help but laugh at the Valentines Day prank, it had helped to brighten her day. Roxanne however, was not pleased.

"I told you that another food related prank was going to seem repetitive. People will think we've lost our touch." She said, clearly concerned. Her hair was still purple; she hadn't really bothered to change it since they got back from winter break.

"Rox, stop worrying. I'm sure people won't think we've lost our touch, look at how funny this turned out!" Albus assured her.

"All I have to say is that we are planning another prank in the very near future. One that has nothing to do with food!" she exclaimed before taking a sip of orange juice. She then leaned across the table and whispered, "have any of you seen Lily since yesterday?"

They all remained silent, waiting for someone to say that they had. "Why? Rose said.

"Well, I only ask because I know she broke up with Collin and was by herself for Valentines Day, but I haven't seen her at all. I looked for her this morning, but I didn't see her anywhere." A cold wave rushed over Rose and stomach-churning fear took the place of laughter.

"We have to go find her." Rose stood up suddenly and walked out of the Great Hall. Al, Mackenzie, and Roxanne hurried behind her.

"Rose, I'm sure it's nothing I just thought I would mention it." Roxanne said as she practically ran to keep up with her.

"Rox, please trust me on this one. I know Lily, and I have a horrible feeling about this. Please, lets split up. You and Mackenzie go to the upper floors, Albus and me to the lower ones."

"Rose, the map." Albus interrupted.

"Right, of course. Check it." Rose demanded as he pulled it out of his bag.

"She's in the dungeons." Albus said as he looked back up at her. The four of them went running in the direction of the stairs that lead to the lower levels of the castle. Rose hated going down to the dungeons because of the confusing hallways and overall dark atmosphere, but she hardly thought about that as she rushed through the winding corridors. They found Lily curled up with her hair splayed about her in a dim corner. If they hadn't had the map, they probably wouldn't have seen her at all.

"Lily!" Albus practically screamed as he ran next to her. They four of them surrounded her and watched Albus shake her shoulders to see if she was conscious. She stirred and sat up a little bit, just enough to move the hair out of her face. Rose gasped; she couldn't help it. Etched into Lily's forehead were the words "Blood traitor" as if drawn by a knife. Albus touched the words lightly, almost to see if they were real. When blood was smeared on his finger he lost it, he started to cry. "Lily…" he almost whispered now. All the girls were now crying too, watching her try to wake up.

"Al?" she muttered as she straightened up slowly. She brought her hand to her forehead and shuttered. "I thought for a moment it was just a dream." She said softly.

"Lily," he hugged her tightly and Rose could see her gasp a little in pain.

"Al, we need to get her to the hospital wing." Rose reminded him. He refused to let Lily walk so he carried her all the way to Madame Pomfrey. When she saw the five of them come in she immediately rose from her chair.

"Oh dear me, what happened?" She asked with furrowed brows.

"We aren't really sure, we found her like this." Roxanne said, as she was the only one who felt strong enough to reply to Madame's question.

"Well, she's conscious, yes?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Yes, she's conscious." Roxanne replied as Lily was placed on one of the beds.

"Well, I'll give her some of this for the pain." The healer said as she held up a blue bottle. "And I'll put some of this on her for the forehead wounds."

"Can I go find the rest of her relatives Madame? I really think they would want to visit her. None of them even know yet." Mackenzie offered.

"I suppose that would be a good idea. Thank you miss Finnegan." Mackenzie took that as her cue to leave the room. The three of them sat down next to Lily who had been given a sleeping draught so that the pain medication would settle in. They watched her fall back asleep and Albus wiped the tears off his face

"How did you know Rose?" Albus asked her once Madame Pomfrey had gone to get Professor McGonagall and Roxanne had gone to alert Harry and Ginny.

"Because Scorpious warned me that some of the Slytherins wanted to make a lasting mark to the end of their Hogwarts careers by tormenting those who fought against Voldemort. I had no idea how serious they were though."

"You knew this could happen?" Albus asked.

"I guess. I just never thought it actually would. I forgot about it to be honest." She paused and looked at Lily, "I could have avoided this." She whispered.

"Rose, don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault." Albus told her.

"Maybe not directly, but I could have stopped it before it started," she protested.

"Yeah, maybe, but things probably still would have ended up this way. Look, Rose, don't feel guilty, ok?"

Rose never had the chance to respond because Professor McGonagall came in with Hugo, Roxanne, Molly, and Lucy. Madame Pomfrey trailed behind the others as they walked into the hospital wing.

Headmistress McGonagall went over to look at Lily's forehead and sighed, "I had sincerely hoped I had seen the last of this behavior at Hogwarts." She turned back to the group of Weasleys that had gathered, "Do any of you know who could have done this?" She asked.

Rose mustered enough courage to speak, "I heard that a group of Slytherins were trying to get revenge on those who were against Voldemort during the last war. But I don't know who those Slytherins are."

"Well, whom did you hear this information from? And why was it not shared sooner?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"It was just gossip I overheard in the hall one day. I didn't think it was of enough importance to be reported."

"Well, from now on any suspicious activity is to be reported. I will not have this school brought into the same chaos that happened when your parents were students here." Professor McGonagall softened, "I have told Miss Potter's parents what happened and they are on their way. They should be in my office any moment so I will be back with them shortly."

Professor McGonagall left the hospital wing for the rest of Lily's family to try and make sense of what had just happened.

"I don't believe it. I really don't believe it." Molly said. They all stood in silence surrounding her bed, reminding Rose of the stories her parents would tell her about the war. Or the time her mother was petrified. Or her father poisoned. Or the other times when they lost family members that Rose sadly never knew.

Rose couldn't tell how much time had passed by when she saw Mr. and Mrs. Potter enter the hospital wing. Ginny ran over to her daughter and kneeled down beside her.

"What happened?" she asked her nieces and nephews.

"We aren't really sure," Roxanne said. "We found her in the dungeons like this."

Lily began to stir again, almost as if she sensed her parents' presence.

"Mum? Dad?" she questioned as she blinked her eyes open. "What are you doing here?"

"The school contacted us, we came as quickly as we could. What happened?" Ginny asked gently. Lily propped herself up on her pillow.

"I really don't think it's a good idea to put Miss Potter under anymore stress," Madame Pomfrey said.

"I'm fine, really." Lily tried to assure her and then began to tell her story.

"It was late last night after dinner, I realized that I had left my potions book in the dungeons after Friday's class and I had to go get it so that I could look something up for the homework due today. As I was going to the classroom someone attacked me; but I couldn't see his face. He hit me with some kind of curse that began carving into my forehead. I don't really remember what happened after that, the pain was very intense but I remember hexing him back with something to make him go away. Apparently whatever spell I used worked, because he didn't fire anything back at me. But whatever curse he used had its effect because my head hurt like it had been pushed into a wall and my forehead felt like it was on fire. That's all I really remember because after that I curled up in the corner and the rest went black. I probably went unconscious, but I might have just fallen asleep."

When Lily had finished her story she looked rather pale and Ginny looked like she was holding back tears to be strong for her daughter. Rose didn't know what to say, but she felt guilt and shame envelope her until she started crying again for what felt like no good reason. Lily tried to assure everyone that she was fine, just a bad headache. The writing on her forehead was nearly healed by now; the curse had taken a while to wear off. Rose sat by her cousins side until late that evening when Professor McGonagall told them that she was sorry but that they had to go back to their houses to sleep because they would all have to return to classes tomorrow. Rose went back to Gryffindor Tower and tried to get the homework from her friends, but they all refused to help her so that she would get some much-needed sleep. In the end Rose fell asleep only to be haunted by dreams of Lily getting attacked. After she woke up sweating and breathing heavily from fear Rose decided sleep wasn't an option, so went down to the common room. She wasn't the only one there though; Albus was with Olivia sleeping on the couch. She assumed they had fallen asleep together after Albus had explained to her what was going on with Lily. Not wanting to disturb them, she tip toed back up the stairs to her room an sat in the window seat looking out into the stillness and coldness of a February night. She wished she could be at home so her mother to make sense of everything for her. Rose could always rely on her for help and advise, but she wasn't able to put her tangled thoughts into writing and so a letter wasn't an option. In the most confusing way, Rose felt terribly alone.

What had happened with Lily terrified Rose in a way she hadn't expected. She wasn't really that concerned for herself, Rose knew that she was fairly good with defensive spells and spent most of her time in the library anyway, but she was scared for her more… reckless siblings. The ones that roamed the castle at night on a regular basis without the map or the cloak. She knew that they should change things as a family to stay safer but that the ones who were really at risk wouldn't. She was worried that Lily was lucky to get away with little injury, but who wouldn't be? Albus? Roxanne? Her own brother Hugo? She was going crazy not being able to talk to anyone so she pulled out her journal.

_Are you awake?_ She wrote to Scorpious.

_Yes. How could I possibly sleep? What if that had been you?_

_ But it wasn't_

_ But it could have been. Rose, I can't stand the thought of anyone possibly hurting you._

_ I'm not worried about me; I hardly leave the library and the common room anyway. I'm more worried about my siblings being at risk. They're always sneaking out. _

_ I know Rose, but you should worry about yourself too. You're a prefect and the oldest daughter of Ron and Hermione; you would be an obvious target. _

_ I know, but I'm good with defensive spells. I'll be fine, really. _It felt strange telling Scorpious her excuses; they didn't seem as valid anymore.

_ I'm so sorry Rose, but someone just woke up because of the light from my wand. Sleeping in a room without windows makes the smallest bit of light seem a thousand times brighter. I talk to you tomorrow during our prefect shift. _

_ Ok. I love you. _

_ Love you too. _

With no Scorpious to talk to and no reason to go back to sleep, Rose simply opened up one of her books and began reading until the darkness of the night grew brighter with the rising sun. Preparing herself to face the world, Rose felt her fingers wrap around the red rose at her neck. She could almost feel his presence, his smile, his eyes, his everything just by touching the rose he had given her. She went to sleep wearing it last night, hoping it would make her feel less alone and scared. She mustered whatever courage she had and faced the day with a newfound determination to be strong. It was the only thing she knew how to do.

**Please please please let me know what you think. I would really love to hear your thoughts. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Um... how can i say this? THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Oh my god you guys are wonderful! Thank you to: XxUniquexX, Avanell, SiriusBlack345, Loslote, Maiqu, Pebbles827(I love your idea, I actually was planning on doing something similar to that in a few chapters from now, so stay tuned!), Molly, Silmarien189, , and MusicalMarvel (this was longest review I ever got, so thank you! So much great information!). You guys are all so wonderful, you have no idea how thrilled your reviews made me, so HUGE thank you. **

**Incase anyone was wondering, the chapter after this one will be the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor game. I know it's been mentioned a fair amount recently and I'm excited to write it!**

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 21

It was strange to Rose how life moved on even though Lily was in the hospital. She still got ready for classes and got back papers and ate lunch and went through her daily routine without fail. But it was ever constant on her mind that Lily wasn't there.

Even though her mind was a mess, there was something she knew she had to address that she was sincerely not looking forward to. But she was worried if she didn't discuss it soon that it could become more of an issue as it rested on someone's mind. After what happened with Lily the whole thing was momentarily put aside, but she felt it better not to put it off any longer.

She found Olivia in the common room on one of the rare moments that Albus was not with her. Although Albus wasn't with her, she was still sitting with other people and so Rose caught her eye and beckoned her over.

"Can we take a walk for a few minutes?" Rose asked her. Olivia looked around as if checking for Albus (he had been extremely protective of her after what happened with Lily), but nodded her head and walked out of the portrait hall with Rose. They began walking around the empty corridors.

"So, I'm guessing you wanted to talk to me about something." Olivia began because Rose had walked in silence thus far.

"Yeah, about that. I know you would have asked me about it if it hadn't been for what happened to Lily, so I thought I would just come out and tell you."

"About what George said?" Olivia helped her along in her explanation.

"Yeah, about what George said." Rose admitted.

"I knew it, there's a guy isn't there!" She beamed and looked over at Rose." You know, I noticed you seemed just a little too happy to be single on Valentine's Day. So, who is he? And why on earth is he a secret?" Olivia inquired happily as she sat down on one of the stone benches in the hall. Rose put a muffliato charm around them.

"There's a good reason he's a secret, I swear. And Olivia, you have to keep this a secret. From everyone but Albus and Lily, because they already know."

"Ok, I promise. Now tell me, who's the guy?"

Rose waited a second trying to figure out how to say it delicately. Should she tell her to brace herself because it was a Slytherin? Should she preface it with some kind of excuse? Should she tell Olivia to wait to judge her until after the full story has been told? These all seemed like wonderful options, but Rose blurted out, "It's Scorpious Malfoy." Rose covered her mouth with her hand instantly out of instincts alone. Rose couldn't read Olivia's facial expression.

"A Slytherin Rosie? After what just happened with Lily?" Rose admitted to herself, the timing for this confession was simply awful. But there was no way around it.

"No no, he's different. He's not like a normal Slytherin, I promise. He's caring, and compassionate, and all the things that we think Slytherins aren't. Please, just hear me out before you judge me." Well, at least that part of her earlier speech made it in there.

"I met Scorpious really for the first time on the train, expecting to hate him. But I didn't, he was actually a decent human being and from then on I wanted to know more about him. Really, he seemed to be different from how I had imagined him and I wanted to know why he was nothing like his father. It turns out he hated his family and their corrupt, old-fashioned way of looking at the world. He found their obsession with blood-purity ridiculous and felt isolated everywhere he went. At home his parents didn't understand him and at school he felt like there were few people in the Slytherin house that he could trust. It also meant that he was constantly compared to his father and he hated being compared to anyone in his family. So as I found out more about him I realized how misunderstood he was, how he never really fit in anywhere. We became friends, I told him my secrets and he told me his. I opened up to him in a different way than I have to anyone else. And then I dated Ben and you saw my meltdown at the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match. I lost it; I realized I loved Scorpious yet I was dating Ben. It was awful having that kind of knowledge and knowing that there isn't much you can do to change it. But I broke up with Ben and got together with Scorpious very soon after. But we both understood the only way it would work is if it was a secret."

"Wait, but you broke up with Ben a while ago. I mean, easily three months ago. You've been keeping this a secret for that long?" She asked.

"Yeah. I mean what could we do? Albus found out by accident and after the hickey incident we decided it was time to tell you too."

"Wow. Oh Rose, I'm so happy for you." Olivia said.

"You are?" Rose was astonished.

"I am. I don't really know him at all and from the way you describe him, he's a wonderful guy. And I'm so happy that you're happy, even if it means it's with a Slytherin. If you are both wiling to go through so much just to be together then it must mean you both really love each other."

Rose gave a huge sigh of relief, "You don't even care that he's a Slytherin?" Rose asked.

"I mean, I care but I don't like to judge people before getting to know them. It seems kind of unfair and I hate when people do that to me, so it has always been my goal not to."

"I wish my dad would see it your way. He's going to go mental when he finds out." She leaned back against the cool stone wall.

"When are you going to tell him?" Olivia asked.

"Probably when we get out of school. It will be hard to sneak around during the summer, and I couldn't go that long without seeing him."

"Wow. Remind me not to be around the Weasley family when that happens." Olivia said with a soft laugh. "Were you really so nervous to tell me?"

"Yeah, you and Al are probably the two people that will react the most calmly to this. And even he started screaming at me. It's a known fact that Weasley men hate Slytherins, especially anyone related to former death eaters. Can you imagine my father's face when I tell him? There's no way Scorpious could be there, he wouldn't make it out alive. My father specifically has told me to stay as far away from Slytherins as possible so that I don't get in to trouble. I don't think dating one was really what he had in mind."

"It's ok Rose, I'm sure it will be fine." Olivia tried to calm her down.

"But it won't be! There's no way he will let us ever see each other again after he knows and then what will happen? It comes down to a choice that I sincerely don't think I can make."

"Then what you need to do is gather enough people on your side before you tell him. Aunt, Uncles, friends, whomever you can get to agree with you. That can help you seem less crazy to your father." Olivia reassured her.

"Why do you always have to be right?" Rose asked with a laugh. "I mean really, you should have been in Ravenclaw, you're ten times wiser than I ever will be."

"I guess the sorting hat just saw everything in my past and thought I was more brave than I was wise. I love Gryffindor, I wouldn't trade houses for the world." Olivia finished her thought with a playful smile that told Rose not to ask questions about Olivia's past life. Rose knew there were some things about Olivia that only Albus knew, and she didn't want to force Olivia to tell them to her.

"Thanks for being such a good friend Olivia. I'm still shocked you took the news as well as you did."

"What can I say, I'm an understanding person. I haven't seen you this happy in a while, it's really hard to be angry at you." She stood up and extended a hand to Rose, "Come on. If we don't come back soon people will get worried. Namely Albus." The two girls chuckled and headed back in the direction of Gryffindor tower.

"Password?" The fat lady asked.

"Victorious." The two girls responded.

"Indeed," the fat lady replied as the portrait hall swung open.

"I know she set the password to get the students excited for the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff game, but Al nearly throws up at the thought of it and can barely bring himself to leave to common room because he knows he'll have to say the password when he returns."

"That's ridiculous." Rose said.

"So is quidditch. Albus is completely terrified. They did well in the last game, but he wants to win by a wide margin for this one so that if they lose the Slytherin game they still have a shot at the cup. He's losing so much sleep over that bloody quidditch match."

"Well then you should go find him and try to make him feel more relaxed." Rose said with a very un-Roselike wink. Olivia smiled nonetheless and went to go find him. Rose had to go meet with Scorpious soon for patrol anyway. So she walked up to their usual meeting place next to the portrait of the dragon with his trainer and waited. Granted she was a few minutes early so she simply started practicing one of the spells they had learned in charms while she was waiting. "Avis" she whispered and little yellow birds flew out of her wand and fluttered around her, their chirping filling the air. Rose smiled at how well her birds came to life, not a feather out of place. As they danced around her she noticed Scorpious, who was walked towards her.

"What's with the birds?" he asked, clearly amused at the way she was almost conducting them in a dance with her wand.

"Just practicing. Ready to go?" She asked as she got rid of the birds with a flourish of her wand.

"If you are I am." He said with a wide smile.

"Then lets go." The two of them walked down the hallways in silence for a moment, both avoiding the huge elephant in the room. Finally Scorpious spoke up.

"Rose, what's bothering you? You're never this quiet." He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist. They used to be more careful about how they acted during patrol, but they never ran into anyone so they started becoming more relaxed.

"It's just… I can't help but feel guilty for what happened to Lily. It's bothering me more and more and I know I shouldn't care, but I do."

"Rose," he said and pulled her in closer so that he could whisper to her, "listen to me. You can't blame yourself for what happened. None of that was your fault. Whether she had known about any danger or not is irrelevant; she would have done the exact same thing."

"I know. I know but I still feel awful."

"But it's really ok. She's leaving the hospital wing tomorrow, trust me I know. I went in there to ask Madame Pomfrey to fix my eyebrow color after someone dyed it wrong during charms and I saw her there. She kept 'suggesting' to Madame Pomfrey that she just go back to the common room and relax instead of being stuck in her hospital bed for another night. Honestly, even with visitors she still seems bored out of her mind. So she seems to be doing just fine."

Rose laughed at the thought of that, of course her cousin would be going mad in there. That's two days less of quidditch practice. What were they thinking?

"I know you're right Scorp, I just worry."

"Well then maybe this will help." Scorpious leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss that barely parted her lips.

"You are such a tease." She said laughing and leaned in again, kissing him now with a little more intent but still slowly and tenderly, not needing anything else but him. Rose could have stayed there happily for a very long time, but they heard footsteps echoing down the hall and quickly broke apart. The footsteps they heard belonged to none other than Professor Longbottom. He turned the corner and Rose waved.

"Professor Longbottom!" Rose said with a warm smile. "How are you?"

Her parents' old friend smiled and walked over to her. "I'm good. I was just out harvesting one of new dittany plants. I needed some to show tomorrow's class. What are you doing out at this hour with Scorpious?" Neville asked her, clearly unsure as to whether she was supposed to be punished or not.

"Oh, well we're just doing prefect duties. Tuesday is our night to patrol." Rose explained.

"Oh right." Neville said, clearly relieved that she was not out trying to find a place to snog Malfoy's son. An awkward silence filled the space between Rose and Neville, both of them not really sure where to take the conversation from there. "Well, I'll see you both in class! Er, goodnight." Professor Longbottom waved, clearly happy to be out of that strange situation. It was a known fact that Neville hated the Malfoy family and tried his best not to show it too often. As Neville turned the corner Scorpious whispered to Rose, "Well, he hates me."

"Oh, you don't know that." Rose said halfheartedly. It was true: Neville did hate Scorpious. Just the sight of him reminded Neville of Draco (although Rose thought that Scorpious was much, much more attractive) and so Professor Longbottom had never given him a chance.

"It's ok Rose, I know he does." He laughed and they began walked down the hall again. "Speaking of people who hate me, are you planning on writing a letter to Victoire and Teddy?" Scorpious asked her.

"I haven't given it much thought with what's been going on, but I think in the next week or so I'll write one." Rose didn't even bother denying that they hated him; it was too much of a blatant lie.

"Good, I'd really like to meet them, I've heard so much about them from you."

"I'm so glad. I think it will help a lot, getting some advice from them. I'm really excited about it actually. I mean, there will still be a lot of explaining to do but I think Victoire will be receptive."

"And Teddy?"

"The death eaters killed his father Scorp, he's not quite as forgiving around them. I just hope she can help him see past that. But I always was one of his favorite cousins, so maybe he'll be happy for me." Although she said the words, she didn't really believe it. Teddy was known for hating Slytherins with a passion of a thousand suns, Rose doubted it would be easy for him to make an exception. But still, she could hope.

"But enough of this serious talk! Come on," Rose grabbed his hand and walked him over to a broom cupboard. "I want to finish what we started. And this time, not get interrupted." She gave a coy smile a shut the door behind her, happy for a few stolen moments with her boyfriend.

**Wanna review? Tell me what you want to see in the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff game, because I haven't started writing it yet :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi everyone,**

**I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get up this chapter, but I promise it wasn't from lack of trying. I kept re-writing parts of it until finally I just started over from scratch. I'm still not totally satisfied with it, but I didn't want to keep all of you waiting any longer!**

**HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE Thank you to: Cammie, loslote, siriusblack345, dessy68, alicecullenisrealinmyworld (btw, thank you for your comment about Neville! I completely agree and I promise there will be an event in the future where you will see a change of heart!), Avanell, Maiqu, musicalmarvel, and Aria657 (I loved your suggestion, so I found a certain daughter of someone to be the commentator, hope you like it!). There were so many wonderful reviews for the last chapter and I am so grateful for them! Honestly, you guys have no idea how much that means to me!**

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 22

It was here. The colors of Red and Gold blurred past Rose as the Gryffindors walked down to the quidditch pitch together. They had a student made Gryffindor flag waving over their heads, some 7th year's idea, and they were all walking in a pack to seem more "intimidating". As fun as this was, Rose thought they look rather ridiculous. But it was for her friends' sakes, so why not?

Rose was able to get out of watching the game with a rest of the Gryffindors because most of her good friends were on the team. She and Scorpious agreed to meet under the Gryffindor bleachers to watch the game together, almost like a real date. Rose pealed off from the group as the Gryffindors stormed the bleachers with some sort of cry of victory (even though they hadn't won yet).

She ducked under the bleachers and walked a few paces away from the entrance so that if some other couple popped underneath here they still wouldn't be seen. The farther she walked away from the opening the darker it seemed to be getting and so she was a bit surprised when she turned around and ran straight into Scorpious. It wasn't a bad collision though; it felt good to be that close to Scorpious again.

"Hi," he whispered with a smirk.

"Oh, hi." She whispered back. "This is perfect, we can watch the game with no problems and still be with each other."

"I know," he said and pulled her in for a kiss. "I'm sorry, but I haven't been able to kiss you in three days. It's been awful." Rose felt bad, studying had taken over her available evenings for the last three nights in a row and she had to cancel their Room of Requirement dates.

"Don't apologize." She whispered and kissed him again, only this time she didn't let him pull away so quickly.

They probably would have stayed like that for a long while if it weren't for the fact that a voice was booming over the pitch.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff quidditch match!"

"Who is that?" Rose asked. Normally, it would have been Eleanor Jordan, but for whatever reason it was clearly a different voice booming over the loudspeaker.

"I have absolutely no idea." They broke apart to peer though the cracks. Turns out it was none other than Amber Brown who was giggling about quidditch.

"How the hell did they decide to put her up there?" Scorpious asked, clearly as shocked as Rose was.

"I have no idea." Sure Amber was pretty, but she possessed less quidditch knowledge than Rose. It was possible that McGonagall put her up to this as a joke, but that seemed extremely uncharacteristic. And by the look on the headmistresses face, she had nothing to do with this.

"Now, the players are taking the field. Oooo, look at the colors of the Hufflepuff robes! They really clash if you ask me. See, look how much nicer the gold trim is on the Gryffindor robes. It looks like they might be new this year."

Rose rolled her eyes. Oh dear merlin, she would actually have to watch this match if she wanted to know what was happening.

"Ok, so the team captains are shaking hands. From Gryffindor we have Albus Potter, who as we all know is currently going out with Olivia, also a 6th year Gryffindor. They really are an adorable couple. I saw them walking together in Hogsmede last weekend…."

"Miss Brown! Please comment only on the game!" McGonagall yelled.

"Sorry professor," Amber said clearly disinterested. "As I was saying, oh look! They're flying up now! I think the game started!" A groan issued from everyone in the stand. "Wow, the teams move quickly! I can't even see the quaffle! Oh wait, it looks like Henry, a beater, just hit a Hufflepuff square in the chest! Yay Henry!" She squealed. "Now, Henry just started dating Mackenznie, who also plays quidditch. She's out here somewhere too… oh look! There she is! I think she's holding something… Oh! She's holding a quaffle! Oh look she scored! Point for us!"

The crowd didn't even bother to correct her; there was no use. Rose kissed Scorpious on the cheek and nestled in closer to him. The two of them watched the game unfold, Gryffindor holding a good lead, until Lily got knocked over by a Hufflepuff. Luckily she regained her balance and continued towards the snitch, but now it was too late and it had gotten away.

"Oh, that's too bad." Said Amber over the booing of the crowd. "I think that was Lily Potter. You know, that one that got hexed by a Slytherin and put in the hospital wing. People say he etched blood traitor in her forehead, but I don't know how that's even possible."

By now McGonagall's glare had gone from icy to boring a hole through Amber's head. Rose was actually feeling a little worried about what the headmistress might say to Amber after the game and how many detentions she would have to endure. Rose was surprised, however, that they were nearly an hour into the game by now and no one had even broken a bone yet. She thought the crowd looked a little disappointed that this appeared to be a fairly uneventful game. Gryffindor's plays were working brilliantly and the Hufflepuff's were clearly disadvantaged by their short-term seeker replacement. Rose could tell that Lily was now just trying to fake out the Hufflepuff seeker to waste time, even though Amber seemed completely oblivious to this tactic. If Gryffindor scored 20 more points, then they would have a large enough advantage to catch the snitch and go home feeling very accomplished.

"Your cousin's good Rose, I mean really good." Scorpious mumbled as he watched intently.

She turned her head to face his, "I can't believe you just admitted that. Are you saying you're afraid?" She challenged with a Weasley glint in her eye.

"No, I like a challenge. It makes our winning feel so much better." He returned her look, now bringing his face closer to hers.

"Well, then consider it a bit of a bet here." Rose smiled.

"Rose Weasley making bets, what have I turned you into?" He smirked.

"Oh please, don't flatter your self. I'm a Weasley, arguing is what we do. Now, come on. Bet me." She put her face close enough to almost touch his nose, trying to distract him.

"Fine. If we win, you go flying with me." His grin grew larger, knowing he had found something awful. Rose hated flying, it scared her more than she cared to admit. She had only been on a broom a few times but it terrified her.

"Ok, fine. But if I win, you have to go to Albus and explain in great detail why you think the Gryffindor team is fantastic."

"But that doesn't benefit you at all!" He protested and pulled away from her.

"Oh yes it does. The look on your face will be priceless and that way you won't be allowed to seem so sad for the rest of the night. And that way you can celebrate with me…" Rose said as she moved back closer to him and brushed her nose against his.

"Well, I can't exactly object to that." He said and drew her in for a kiss. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, loving the fact that they could finally be together at a school event like this. She knew it was frivolous of her to care about those kinds of things, but she did.

Rose had finally lost all breath left inside of her and was forced to pull away. Both their chests were rising and falling quickly with dumbstruck smiles on their face. In the background they heard the roar of cheers and screams and they both turned around to see a very proud Lily holding the snitch.

"Well, look at that. Remember this scene Scorpious, you're going to see the same thing at the Slytherin game in a few months time." Rose loved it when her team won; the bragging to Scorpious was simply wonderful.

"No Rosie, you should remember this when your team needs a reminder of how it used to be before Slytherin crushed them in the final game."

"Uh huh, we'll see about that. In the meantime, there is an after party going on that I think I can miss the first few hours of…" She trailed off and ran her fingers though his hair like she had seen Lily do to Collin. He took her hand and led her out of the bleachers with the invisibility cloak over the both of them. Rose laughed as they ran the opposite direction of the cheering Gryffindors and scowling Hufflepuffs.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked laughing.

"Away from all of them." Said Scorpious as he pulled her away from the crowd and kissed her. This surprised her; even though they were still hidden under the invisibility cloak she wasn't used to him being so… careless about who they were around.

"I know we're under the cloak but I still feel like people are watching us." Rose whispered even though no one would be able to hear her.

"I know. Me too." Scorpious whispered in Rose's ear and it sent shivers up her spine. She didn't know about other relationships, but it seemed to her like she wasn't supposed to feel this way anymore now that the some of the 'newness' of her relationship was over. But he still made her loose her train of thought instantly by doing the simplest things.

She pulled him in close to her and whispered again, "I think we could sneak into the common room for the Gryffindor party. No one will notice." She had a mischievous grin on her face.

Scorpious nodded his head and the two snuck into the castle and followed the Gryffindors through the portrait hole. Rose could feel Scorpious surveying the area around him and thought to herself that this was probably the first time a Slytherin had ever been invited into the common room by a Gryffindor. She could tell he felt a little bit out of place so she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked over to a quiet corner of the room.

"You know, we don't have to stay here," Rose mumbled as to not be overheard. "What if we just went up to the astronomy tower for a little while?" She suggested and he nodded his head and the two of them were off, wandering in the direction of the place where they first kissed.

But Albus, who had followed them down the hall, interrupted them quickly.

"Rose, wait up." He whispered loudly and ran over to her and pulled the invisibility cloak off the two of them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rose asked.

"McGonagall is coming back to guard the Gryffindor portrait hall after what happened last time we had a party and she wants you and Henry to help her. So I lied and told her you have been in the library studying all day and probably didn't realize what time it was, but you have to come back right now or she will try to find you!" Albus said all of this in one very quick slightly slurred sentence.

Rose whispered a few choice curse words that both Albus and Scorpious were a little shocked to hear come out of her mouth. "Fine, I'm sorry Scorp."

"It's no problem Rose, don't worry about it."

"Goodnight," She whispered in his ear and kissed him softly but held it for a while. She almost forgot that she had to return to the common room before Albus coughed very loudly.

"Rose, we really have to go." She rolled her eyes and followed Albus down the hallway to the Gryffindor common room. Why does this sort of thing always seem to happen to her?

"Ah, miss Weasley, thank goodness. I'm sure you are aware of the tomfoolery that happened after Gryffindor won their last game, yes?" Rose was extremely aware of what happened as she was asked to be one of their lookouts. Albus had gotten it into his head that they needed to play a prank on the Ravenclaws after the last match so he decided to paint their table in the great hall red and gold. It wasn't a brilliant prank by any means, but someone had acquired some firewhisky for the occasion and although Albus was less then six months from being of age he had a few goblets too many.

"Yes professor, I heard about that." Rose said trying to keep a straight face.

"Well, we cannot have a repeat performance of that event. So you two are to guard the portrait hole entrance until everyone has gone to bed. I have told Professor Longbottom to send everyone up to their dormitories at 10:30 so that the two of you won't have to be up late."

"Thank you professor." Rose said.

"I suggest that you guard the doors from within the common room, for safety reasons." Rose knew that she was referring to what happened to Lily when she was last alone in a corridor.

"Okay Professor, will do." Henry told her as she nodded her head in farewell and left the common room. As soon as professor McGonagall had left, the party went into full swing and Henry was clearly not planning on monitoring the door all night.

"So listen Rose," Henry started as he sat down next to the door.

"Oh no here we go." Rose mumbled and Henry pretended not to here her.

"I promised I would meet up with Mackenzie after the game so we could celebrate together, but if I have to guard the door all night that can't really happen." He trailed off by Rose knew exactly what he was asking.

"Henry, just go." Rose rolled her eyes and he didn't even bother to try and protest, he simply thanked her and ran off to join the festivities. Rose summoned a book from her room and began to get a head start on the weeks homework, hoping that maybe she would help her sneak some time in with Scorpious. It felt like they were hardly ever alone anymore. Rose had finished taking some notes for her history of magic class when Albus and Olivia approached her at the door.

"Hey Rosie, is there anyway you can let us out to go to the kitchens and get food for the party?" He asked. Rose knew what he was doing was not that innocent; he and Olivia clearly had different plans in mind.

"No Albus, if I let you out and you do something stupid, McGonagall will blame it on me and Henry."

"I'm not going to do something stupid like play a prank on the Hufflepuffs, I just want some fresh air and some alone time." Albus again tried to keep the mischievous smile off his face, but it didn't work.

"Albus no. Absolutely not. I'm sure you can find your "fresh air" in one of the boys dormitories, but you cannot leave." Rose felt bad being this harsh, but there was nothing she could do. She refused to fail one of her most important prefect duties of the year.

"Fine," he said and left with Olivia in toe, looking apologetically at Rose. Rose stayed there all night forcing people away from the door, having to confront many of her fellow Gryffindors. When Neville finally came in to make them all go to bed Rose practically wanted to hug him. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more but to go to bed.

As she fell asleep Rose was haunted by a dream, one that she had seen many times before. She was standing outside the burrow surrounded by her belongings, everything from childhood dolls to her current textbooks. From the windows she could hear shouting and screaming for her to leave and never come back. Every time she watched the dream play it self out, she forgot why they were mad at her in the first place. But then Ron opens the front door and yells, "You chose this path Rose. You chose him. You chose the Malfoy." And then hexes start to fire in all directions at her and Rose disapperates. At this point in the dream she finds herself completely lost in some strange location (on this particular night it was a Forrest) and Scorpious doesn't come to her. She begs for him to come but she is left alone, and why Rose never knows. At that point in the dream she normally woke up in tears or in a cold sweat and tried not to wake up her roommates. But Olivia was a light sleeper and always heard her and waited up with her until she could fall back asleep. Those dreams used to happen only once a week, but lately she had been having them almost every three nights.

However this time, Rose woke up halfway through the dream to Olivia shaking her.

"Rose, Rose you have to wake up. Come on, no more awful nightmares." Rose woke with a start and stared up at Olivia. "Rose I hate to see you like this, what is bothering you in your sleep? What's scaring you?" Olivia's voice was full of kindness and sincerity, and Rose wondered if Olivia was really starting to worry about her.

"I'm ok, I'm just a little terrified about something in the future. Namely what will happen when I tell Ron." Rose tried to keep their conversation as vague as possible in case one of her other roommates were listening.

"Rose…" Olivia trailed off clearly unsure what to say. "Don't worry about that yet, you have time. It probably won't be as awful as you think." Rose appreciated Olivia's optimism, but right now she was feeling like it wasn't that helpful.

"Thanks Olivia, I'm going to try and go back to sleep. You should too." Rose reminded her and Olivia nodded and got up from Rose's bed and went back to hers.

"Goodnight Rose." Olivia's voice rang out softly in the darkness.

"Goodnight."

**What did you guys think? I have two requests. 1: please please please please please review :)**

** 2: When you write your review, I'd love for you to tell me things you want to see in the next chapter (which will be the Hogsmede visit with Victoire and Teddy). Obviously, I can't use all of your great suggestions, but I would LOVE your ideas as I am writing. **

**THANK YOU!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi everyone! First, I am so so so so so so so so so so sorry for how long it has taken me to get this to you! I've been rewriting this chapter because, well, I just wasn't satisfied enough with it to post it. But I think it's finally gotten to the place where I am content with it. Also, it's the longest chapter I've ever written (It's over 4,000 words, and I'm pretty excited about it!) **

**Second, in my quest to understand how fanfiction works (as this is my first fanfiction story ever) I've just now discovered the ability to reply to reviews, which I'm thrilled about. This way I don't have to take up a lot of space here to reply to your questions and comments (which I have wanted to do for quite some time). However, if you guys find me replying annoying, send me a note in the comments and I'll go back to mentioning you all at the beginning of every chapter.**

**One last thing: As a heads up for all of you, the next three or so chapters will take place over the same 48 hour period of time in the story. It's gonna be a pretty big event, and I'm really excited about working on it, but I want to make sure the mini story arch works perfectly before I start writing. So, it might be a bit of a gap before I get the next chapter up and I am really really really sorry about that in advance. But I think the next few chapters will be worth it! **

**Ok, time for me to stop rambling. Enjoy!**

Chapter 23

"Rose?" Victoire asked as she saw her walked down the lane in Hogsmede.

"Victoire!" Rose ran over to her and was pulled into a hug. It was late March now, the snow was beginning to thaw and Rose didn't feel the air sting her nose anymore. The air was damp and Hogsmede was looking a bit muddy, but Rose was thrilled to be there.

She also found it lucky that the snow wasn't on the stone streets anymore because it meant that Scorpious' footprints behind Rose could not be seen.

"Oh Rose, you look lovely!" Victoire beamed and began to play with her hair. "I see you followed my advice."

Rose gave an uncharacteristic giggle, "I did. So where is Teddy, I thought that the two of you would have come together?"

Victoire rolled her eyes, "He overslept and is running about 20 minutes behind me. I woke him up my self and he still fell back asleep." Rose smiled at the thought of this; it was so like Teddy to oversleep.

"Well, this might work out ok in the end. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going to the shrieking shack so we could talk more… privately." Rose blushed at this a little bit. It felt awkward asking her cousin to not talk publicly with her when Victoire didn't know why.

"Um, sure Rose. Is everything ok?" Victoire asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Rose said and the two (well, really three) of them walked through the town to make their way to the shrieking shack.

"So what have you been up to Rose? I heard about the game from Albus, he's very proud." Victoire smirked; apparently she and Teddy had also been the recipients of the victory letters Albus had sent out complimenting the team, but really complimenting himself.

"Rightly so, it was a rather spectacular game. I think they're going to crush the Slytherins when they play them towards the end of the year." Rose smiled at the thought of Scorpious having to listen to her talk about the end of the year game.

"Probably." Victoire said with a reminiscent smile. "I remember when I was in 6th year and we had beat the Slytherins, it was once of the best nights of my life." Rose was going to ask for more detail, but Victoire interrupted her before she could, "well, here we are!" She gave a strange smile. "I remember this place. It's strange coming back." The tall blonde girl opened the creaky door and walked inside towards the rickety dinning room. Before Rose had a chance to collect her thoughts, Victoire began to question her.

"Ok Rose, so what's going on? What is so secretive that you can't talk about it with me in public?" Victoire had an expression on genuine curiosity on her face.

"Oh god… I always think I'll know how to explain this and then I forget what I was going to say." Rose collapsed into one of the dinning room chairs and Victoire sat gracefully in one of them as well.

"I'm not going to judge you Rose." Victoire said softly. "Why don't you just tell me what's wrong?"

"Well, I'm dating this guy." Rose started.

"You have a boyfriend!" Victoire exclaimed and gave a little squeal of excitement. Then realization crept on to her face. "Wait, then what's wrong Rose? Is it something he did?"

"No no, it's nothing like that." Rose felt herself blushing a little bit but tried to control it. "It's just… I'm worried Ron won't approve." Rose stated this cautiously and slowly.

"Rosie, I know he was shocked when he heard about Ben, but that was the first boyfriend you ever had. I'm sure he'll be fine with it, are you really that afraid of his reaction?"

"Yes." Rose mumbled. "But that's not why." Rose wasn't really sure what to do now. Should she just take the invisibility cloak off of Scorpious? Rose thought that seemed like the easiest option so she just stood up and walked over to where she thought he was standing. He gave him a small smile before pulling the cloak of his head. Rose could see Victoire's eyes pop a bit in surprise.

"I'm assuming this is your boyfriend?" Victoire said with a very amused smile.

"Yeah," Rose wore a sheepish grin.

"I see. He's a Malfoy. You of all people Rose." Victoire was still smiling though, which Rose took as a good sign.

"Your not angry?" Rose asked in complete disbelief.

"I probably should be, right? Keep the Weasley family image. But I find this whole forbidden relationship much more intriguing then I do offensive." Victoire gave a small laugh, "Well, sit down! You don't have to stand six feet away from me now!" They all smiled and Rose and Scorpious took their seats around the table.

"I'm Victoire. It's nice to meet you Scorpious." Victoire extended and hand which Scorpious shook with a look of awe on his face.

"It's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you from Rose, she has had nothing but good things to say."

"Well, aren't you quite the charmer." She flashed him her famous smile. "Now, I'm assuming this whole relationship is a secret, yes? That's why he walked here under the cloak?"

"Well Lily, Albus, and Olivia know. But besides them yes, no one else does. We're trying to keep it a secret for, well, as long as it takes to think up a suitable plan."

Victoire absentmindedly put her hair up into a ponytail, "When were you planning on telling Ron?"

"Probably the end of the school year." Scorpious replied. "We really want to be able to see each other over the summer and we're hopeful Ron might be ok with it."

Victoire gave an amused snort and said, "I wouldn't count on that. I'm really sorry Scorpious, but he has a large prejudice against Slytherins in general, especially your father. No offense."

"None taken. I hate my father too." Victoire smiled a little wider at this.

"I know it's probably not much consolation, but you don't seem to be anything like him. I'm actually rather surprised you're even in Slytherin."

"Well, I think when you're a Malfoy you have to be put in Slytherin. And I was really scared about being in another house; I thought my father would disown me. It probably played into the sorting hat's decision, it normally does."

"That would make sense," Victoire guessed. "So, why did you want to meet with Teddy and I?"

"We thought you might have some advice on breaking it to Ron. Olivia suggested trying to get support from other family members, and we really wanted you guys to be the first to know." Rose explained.

"Well, for us it was…difficult at first. My parents were really sure what to say, but my mum had a feeling this would happen for quite some time. Dad on the other hand was rather shocked. But they were relatively accepting by the time we had gotten the whole story out. And then they realized they really couldn't have found a better person for me. You two will have a completely different experience." Victoire leaned her elbows on the table, "Here's what I would do. Get as many people around him to already know and support you two, like Olivia suggested. That way, when Ron goes barking mad he will have people around him to tell him he's being unreasonable."

"So, who do we talk to?" Scorpious asked.

"Well, try to get most of Ron's brothers. I would tell Charlie, Bill, and George, but not Percy. It's not even worth trying to explain to Percy. I would also tell Ginny and Harry, but Ginny first. Ginny might understand quicker and then can convince Harry. Harry might take some time to convince."

"How about Hugo? Should we tell him?" Rose asked.

"Yes, you really should. He'll be pretty stunned too." Victoire tilted her head back in thought, "You need to tell James, otherwise he'll side with Ron."

"Are you kidding? James wouldn't understand at all! He's the 2nd worse in the family in terms of prejudice against Slytherins."

"Oh that's not true Rosie. You forgot Grandma and Grandpa." Victoire reminded her.

"Of course. Oh Merlin, they'll never understand." Rose sighed. "Oh well, so we won't tell them."

As soon as Rose had finished that thought, Teddy came walking in the door. "Sorry I'm late, I went to three broomsticks to find you, but they said you weren't there. Finally I ran into Albus and Olivia, and they both sent me here." Teddy stopped in his tracks, "Who are you?" Then Rose remembered, of course he wouldn't know what Scorpious looked like. He wasn't there when Scorpious and Rose started their first year. Rose went for the more vague approach.

"Teddy, this is my boyfriend." Teddy looked a little surprised but then extended his hand to shake Scorpious'.

"It's nice to meet you." Teddy said with a smile on his face. "You look familiar. Have we met before? Are you one of Albus' friends?"

"Er… sort of. My name is Scorpious, maybe you've seen me at King Cross station."

"A Malfoy?" Teddy asked clearly taken back. Scorpious nodded his head solemnly and Teddy ran a hand through his turquoise hair and turned to Rose. "A Slytherin Rosie? And a Malfoy? Is it possible for you to have picked anyone worse?" Teddy asked.

"Yes, it's extremely possible. Scorpious is one of the kindest people I've met. He's not like the others Ted, please just let me explain."

"Rose, I don't want you to explain. How could you do this? After everything they've done?"

"Teddy please," Victoire spoke up from behind him. "Let Rose talk, you might find out that you were wrong." Teddy let out a sight of defeat, but Rose wasn't sure what or who had just defeated him.

"Fine, he sighed. Rose wasn't really sure where to begin, which was a feeling that by now she was quite accustomed to.

"Well, Scorpious and I started patrolling together this fall when we were first made prefects. And I don't know…we just became really good friends. Ted, he's funny and wonderful and all of the things you don't think he is."

"Rose, you can't trust Slytherins." Teddy reminded her.

"What, so you think it's all an act?" An uncomfortable silence fell over the four of them. Rose didn't know what to do, so she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"When you look at Victoire, what do you see?"

"Rose, this is ridiculous." Teddy started but Rose interrupted again.

"What do you see?" Rose asked impatiently trying to give her best imitation of the Hermione glare.

"I see home." He said with a weak smile.

"That's what I see when I look at Scorpious." She answered softly. "Look Ted, I know you hate Draco and you have every reason to. But you can't hate Scorpious. Your mother is related to a whole line of pure blood Slytherins and look who she turned out to be. A beautiful, amazing women who gave her life to save the people she loved."

"Don't bring Tonks into this Rose." Teddy warned her.

"Well, you're being a hypocrite and sadly she isn't here to tell you that. Look, I'm sorry you are finding out so suddenly Teddy, but please, for my sake, please try to understand. I love him, and I know he loves me too." Rose felt that she had said enough. She didn't want to push Teddy over the edge and end up making him hate her too.

He gave her a small smile, "You have always been far too bright for your own good Rose." Rose smiled at the thought of this; lately she hadn't been feeling bright at all.

"So, does this mean you'll help us?" She asked tentatively.

"What do you mean help you?" Teddy asked.

"Well, we're trying to gather family members to support us when we tell Ron. We wanted to talk to you guys first; we thought you might have some advice about breaking relationship to people. After all, you had to tell Bill and Victoire."

Teddy laughed his hearty laugh and replied, "Yes, and that was the most awkward conversation I have ever had in my life." Victoire rolled her eyes but smiled; clearly happy with the way the conversation was going. "There isn't much you can do about his reaction. Ron's going to blow up over this with no doubt."

"Yes, but the important thing to do is find a way to get him to calm down as soon as possible. You should try to have as many allies as you can." Victoire added and Teddy nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright, but what about everyone else? Who should I break it to first?"

"George." They answered in unison and began to laugh at how alike they really were.

"Why George?" Rose asked.

"George will be the most understanding. Everyone else you will have to convince, but you are one of George's favorite nieces and I think he'll find it pretty amusing that you are completely defying your parents even though you've always been such a perfect child."

"But it's still the whole Slytherin vs. Gryffindor battle. George hates the Slytherins with a passion."

"Maybe, but not at much as the rest of the family does. He really enjoys the fact he has an enemy to test his products on. Besides, he's always had fun taunting Malfoy. Maybe in a strange way he'll see this as the best prank ever, Draco's son in love with his niece, a half-blood." Rose couldn't help but laugh at that. In an ironic way, it was the ultimate prank to play on Malfoy. His only son in love with a Gryffindor half-blood; it really couldn't get much better.

"You're right. You're completely right." Said Rose.

Victoire beamed, happy to help in whatever way she could. "Well, we have done this before," she winked at Teddy. "We've learned the hard way."

"I know George is busy with the shop, what with today being Hogsmede visit day, but you should try to head down and catch him while he's still there."

"But I don't want to leave you two. You came all the way down here just to see me!" Rose protested, feeling guilty for spending so little time with them.

"Rose, it's fine. I wouldn't mind spending some time in here reminiscing. Honestly, it would be nice." Victoire sigh wistfully and that vacant look went over her eyes that told Rose she was lost in her memories.

"Ok, I guess it would be a good idea to go find George." Rose said and the two couples said their goodbyes. As Rose and Scorpious ducked under the invisibility cloak she kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "I'm sorry we don't get too much time alone today, but it would be a good idea to visit George. Especially after the hickey incident. I wouldn't want him to mention that to anyone else."

"It's fine Rose, I think this is a good thing. It's comforting to know that not everyone hates us." He smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Rose loved these moments when it was just the two of them, and she could take the time to breathe in his scent, see every freckle, and try to count the colors in his eyes. Sometimes Rose would forget she was staring and would look on for too long and eventually he would notice.

"What?" He asked with a laugh in his voice.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how your hair looks a little longer."

"Really?" He asked her with a smirk.

"Yeah, but don't cut it. I like it this way." She said and ran her fingers through it to prove her point kissed him softly as they walked along. Rose didn't mind the content silence in the least. In fact, she really liked it. It felt like they were the only two people in the world.

That feeling didn't last long however, because as soon as they entered Hogsmede the streets were full of commotion. Third years were running around chasing each other with various Weasley products, Seventh years were sitting around an outdoor table with butterbeers and laughing about nothing, Fourth year girls were walking out of Honeydukes with sugar quills in their hands, and two sneaky sixth years were hiding under and invisibility cloak, watching it all.

"Come on, let's go in through the back door." Rose said and led him around to an alleyway between the buildings. On the backdoor George had written, "Come in only if you are willing to face puking pastels" and Rose laughed, she remembered his writing this when she was in her first year and James started sneaking his friends through the back door to avoid the crowds. Rose turned the purple doorknob and the little bells chimed that alerted George that someone was here. Rose quickly ducked out from under the cloak and left Scorpious standing there before George entered the room.

"Well, if it isn't my mischievous niece…" George said as he turned the corner into the office room.

"Mischievous?" Rose asked in mock horror.

"Mhm, I just don't know what to think. Sneaking through the back door, the hickey on your neck, Malfoy under the invisibility cloak…. Really Rosie, I wouldn't have recognized you."

Rose didn't even know what to say, but she could feel her eyes widen. "How did you… how could you…"

"Rose, I built this store. You don't think I have security protection on my office? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." He smirked and leaned against a wall. "So, care to explain why a Slytherin is in here with us or should I draw my own conclusions?" He asked her, but not cruelly. At least, she thought, not yet.

By this point Scorpious took the invisibility cloak off himself, it seemed foolish now to have it on. Rose and Scorpious stood awkwardly apart, both waiting for George to start talking. The silence was becoming unbearable, but George basked in it, loving the strange situation he has caused.

Finally he spoke, "So, how long have to two of you been snogging?" George asked and Rose turned a bright scarlet that she so hated.

"We've been _dating_ for since November." Rose replied, unsure of where to take this next. George didn't seem to be angry, so should she just explain what happened? Should she let him ask questions? Was that a safe thing to let George do?

"Rose I must say, of all of the Weasley kids, you were the last person I would expect to completely defy their parents." George said, now sitting down in a large orange velvet armchair.

"So I've heard. But I didn't mean to, not really. I just got to know him when we patrolled together and we ended up falling for each other." Rose told him trying to keep her voice as level as possible.

"Wow, so November. I'm surprised you guys haven't strangled each other, the Malfoys and the Weasleys don't exactly share the same views on things." George said, trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.

"He's nothing like his father George, I promise." Rose said, taking a step closer to Scorpious without thinking.

"Oh, you don't have to win my approval. I'm more than fine with this." George continued to wear his bemused look.

"You are?" Rose asked, completely shocked.

"This will be the funniest thing that has happened to Ron in years. He will have to put up with, no offence Scorpious, a Malfoy because you are his favorite daughter."

"I'm his only daughter, that's not saying much." Rose replied.

"Yes, but if he had more than one you would still be his favorite. You're so much like Hermione that he adores you."

"Well, he won't for much longer. How am I going to tell him George?" Rose asked and sat back in one of the other armchairs, now at ease with the conversation.

"I would just come out and tell him. And then maybe stay with me for a few days. Although I'm sure you'd much rather stay with your boyfriend, but I don't think that would help Ron feel better about the situation if he knew his daughter was shagging a Malfoy…"

"George!" Rose exclaimed and the red color returned to her face again.

"Oh what? You both are almost 17, I'm not clueless."

"That's not… I mean… that's not the point!" Rose exclaimed and tried to regain her composure. "My point is that Ron will lose his mind when he finds out about Scorpious, and I need you to help me talk some sense into him. Please George, we need you."

"You don't have to worry about me Rose, I'm there for you. Besides, how could I pass up and opportunity to bother Ronnykins." George extended a hand towards Malfoy, "Welcome to the family Scorpious. It's gonna be a lot more interesting having you around."

"Thanks George," Scorpious shook his hand, "for everything."

"So," George reclined into his armchair again. "Who else knows? I'm assuming I'm not the first one."

"Well, no. Albus, Olivia, Lily, Teddy, and Victoire know." Rose confessed.

"You told Al? Merlin, I thought you would have saved him until later."

"Well, it wasn't exactly planned. He sort of saw us on the map and followed us."

George's eyes got that look when he was remembering back to his days of playing pranks at Hogwarts. "Yeah, the map was good for that. Came in handy loads of times."

"Well, once he knew and you mentioned the hickey thing to Olivia, we had to tell her. And then Lily knew all along, so there wasn't any need to break the news. And with Teddy and Vic we thought it would be a good idea to have the opinion of someone whose broken relationship news to the family before."

"Well, yes. But that wasn't nearly as bad as this will be."

"You're not helping." Rose replied, exasperated with the constant reminders of the doomsday to come.

"Sorry." A loud explosion rang out from somewhere in the store. "Well, this has been fun. But I have a business to run and apparently, a fire to put out. Nice to see you both. And owl me when you tell Ron. I really would like to be there."

Rose couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not, or if he wanted to be there merely to make fun of Ron. But nonetheless, she responded, "Will do. Bye uncle George!" She gave him a quick hug before he had to dart out the orange door to his office.

The two of them slipped under the cloak and began to walk around Hogsmede. The streets were still filled with activity and other students running around, but Rose and Scorpious seemed to move slower than everything else. Almost as if they were merely watching this scene from far away.

"So… what now?" Scorpious asked.

"I think I might have an idea." She walked him between two buildings so that a shadow was cast over their invisible bodies and ran her fingers through his dark blonde hair.

"I love you." She whispered softly as her lips were a centimeter from his.

"I love you too." And with that, Rose decided to make up for all the lost snogging time between them.

**Happy Belated Valentines Day everyone! As a present to me, review? **


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello everyone! **

**Let me just start by saying how thrilled I am to be finally sharing this chapter with you! I am so so so so so so SO excited about it and I cannot wait to hear what your thoughts are about the more "dramatic" aspect to this story. **

**However, I have some very embarrassing news that I'm not so excited to share with you. I care a great deal about making sure this story is as accurate as I can possibly make it. I spend tons of time researching everything that I relate back to the potter universe so that I can attempt to create J.K. Rowling's world the way she would have. So you can imagine how mortified I am to admit that one of my wonderful reviewers (thank you alicecullenisrealinmyworld) pointed out that I have been spelling Scorpius' name wrong for this entire story.**

**I cannot apologize enough for how sloppy that was of me. Really, I am so embarrassed that I overlooked the spelling of the name of one of my main characters! I promise that I will go back and update every chapter with the correct spelling, but I don't want to bombard you all with email notifications of new chapters that aren't really new chapters, just "spelling corrected" ones. So for now I will simply go forward spelling it the correct way (Scorpius instead of Scorpious) and go back to fix it once this story is complete. **

**Again, I am so sorry for that huge mistake. I hope this multi-chapter story arch makes up for it. **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 24

The next day Rose and Scorpius found themselves in the room of requirement. They both agreed that they hadn't seen enough of each other lately because of Scorpius' quidditch schedule and Rose's perfect grade point average that she had to maintain. But for the first time in a while they were finally in the same place at the same time with nowhere to run off to. For the first time in a while, they were peaceful. The two of them were sitting on the large couch next to the roaring fire when Rose broke the silence between them. Scorpius had remained unusually quiet the whole evening and she could feel in his kiss that his mind was somewhere else.

"Scorpius, is something wrong? You're acting kind of odd." Rose asked as she stared up into his grey eyes.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just worried." Her admitted.

"About what?"

"All of this explaining to Teddy and Victoire and George has made me think about what it will be like to tell my dad." He said quietly.

"Scorpius, you don't have to be afraid of him. If he threatens to kick you out then leave, I'm sure one of the Weasley will gladly let you stay with them until things cool over. Or better yet, maybe you can stay with me." She gave him a coy smile and buried into his shoulder.

"That's not why I'm worried Rose." He said softly in a voice that she almost couldn't hear.

"What else is there to be worried about?" She asked.

"I'm worried about what he'll do to you. And your family. He'll be furious, I would be surprised if he started dueling with your father. Or tried to hurt you in retaliation."

"You really think he would do that?" Rose asked.

"I wouldn't put it past him. And what about everyone else? What will they do? They'll try to do something awful to you to get back at me."

"Oh no." Rose started shaking her head. "I've heard this speech before. Scorpius Malfoy, what are you trying to say?" Rose demanded.

"I don't know. Maybe… maybe you shouldn't be with me." A cold wind swept over Rose in a way that felt like she was drowning. She stood up and away from him quickly.

"How could you say that?" Her voice quickly growing louder.

"Rose…" Scorpius tried to stop her, but it was too late.

"Don't even start. After everything we've been through, after everything _I've_ been through. After risking relationships with family members, after sneaking around school, after lying about all of this for month, you want to back out now?"

"Rose, you know that's not it." Scorpius interrupted.

"Did you finally realize all of the shit you will have to put up with when you finally date me? Does the future scare you?" She demanded.

"Rose, no."

"So what is it then? Is this just some sorry excuse because you realized you don't want to be with me?"

"God Rose, how could you ever say that?" Scorpius was now standing too, his face contorted in anger and sadness.

"I feel like I should ask that question to you!" She bellowed, tears now beginning to fall. "Are you really that worried I'll get hurt? I hate to break this to you Malfoy, but ever since my parents save the wizarding world, I've sort of had a bull's-eye on my back for Slytherins and ex-death eaters."

Scorpius took a step back, "I cannot believe you just called me Malfoy." Hot guilt rushed over Rose, she had called him the one thing he asked her never to call him: Malfoy. It reminded him of his father, and he hated being related to that family.

"Scorpius, I'm sorry. But _I_ cannot believe you're trying to break up with me because you're scared." He wouldn't speak to her; he just stood there looking into her eyes. "Look, I'm scared. Ok? I'm scared my father won't think of me the same way ever again, I'm scared my family will turn their backs on me, I'm scared things will change in a way I can't fix. But I'm ok with that because I'm doing that all for you. The person I love. The person I think still loves me."

"I do love you Rose. I love you, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I have to go to a funeral and it's yours and it's my fault." Scorpius was raising his voice again.

"You are so like Harry in ways you don't even understand. Stop trying to be noble Scorpius! Just stop it! We've both probably had our doubts about what will happen, but I never thought you would break up with me over it."

"I didn't say I wanted to break up with you Rose."

"Yes you did! You said you didn't think we should be together anymore."

"That's not the same thing." He protested.

"In my mind it is." She turned around and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Scorpius yelled after her.

"I don't want to say something I'll regret when I wake up tomorrow. So, I'm leaving. Maybe it will give you a chance to think."

"Rose don't go, please." Scorpius begged her but she left anyway, tears streaming down her face like never ending rivers. She couldn't stay and wait for him to say the words she had feared for months. She couldn't listen to leave her. She had to take some time to think.

She went to the only place she knew best, the library. She tried to bury herself in the books there that were so familiar, but nothing worked. She even took out Hogwarts: A History, the book she had read over and over as a little girl. But it didn't have the same magical effect it had on her when she was eight. She began to cry again and large teardrops fell on the parchment that her head was hung over. She grabbed a book out of her school bag and began to read about the wars between goblins and wizards but couldn't focus at all.

She hated him. Or at least, she was really trying to. She tried to hate is gray eyes. She tried to hate his smile. She tried to hate the way he laughed. But that was all she could do: try. Because she knew that she would still love him if he left her, and that would truly break her heart.

The night went on and all Rose could think about was Scorpius. She stayed in the library until Madame prince saw her and kicked her out, something that often happened to Rose. She quickly gathered up her things to avoid being yelled at more and slowly walk back to the common room. She didn't want to face what was probably awaiting her there. Everyone would see she had been sobbing moments before.

But surprisingly enough, no one even noticed. In the strangest way this made Rose even more upset and hurt about the situation. How could no one notice her red eyes? Or her tear stained face? Was she that invisible to everyone around her?

Every one of her friends seemed to be wrapped around someone else, whether it is a love interest or just another friend. In that peculiar moment, Rose was completely alone. Rose went up the stairs as calmly as she could and then completely broke down in loud sobs. She didn't care at this point who heard her; she was devastated. Everything that made her happy in life seemed to have been taken away and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She couldn't help but cry with reckless abandonment; this was the one of the saddest things that had ever happened to her.

Time moved slowly and Rose wanted to be able to fall asleep more than anything. But alas, she was forced to stay wide-awake and replay everything that Scorpius said to her. Her roommates had come in and gone to bed themselves and Rose pretended that she had already fallen asleep. But her mind kept hearing his voice and the words he yelled at her. A small voice in her head said, "it's not over yet" and she tried to let it give her hope. But she felt despair in a way that was completely new. She didn't realize how much she needed him until he was gone.

The next day came and Rose had gotten only three hours of sleep. She stumbled out of bed and haphazardly threw on her uniform, not bothering to do anything but brush her teeth and her hair. By now her roommates were sure something was wrong, but they remained silent.

Rose's mind dozed off during all of her classes and her notes were simply doodles on her parchment. When she got to herbology a plant actually attacked her for not paying enough attention to what she was doing. After class Neville motioned her over.

"Rose, are you alright? I've never seen a fanged geranium bite a student that much in one class."

"Yeah I'm… actually no. I'm not really fine. I've been off all day, I think it's lack of sleep or something."

"Rose, don't overwork yourself, ok?" He looked at her, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I won't, don't worry. Thanks Professor Longbottom." She gave him a weak smile and left the class.

She spent the rest of the day in that same half-awake state and when she returned to the common room that evening Olivia pulled her aside.

"Rose, what's wrong? You've been weird all day." She asked in hushed tones.

"I'm just suffering from lack of sleep, that's all." The ease at with that lie came out of her mouth made her begin to cry. "I'm going to go upstairs and try to sleep some more, ok?"

Olivia gave her a confused look as Rose ran past her and went up the stairs. Rose wasn't lying completely; she really did want to go sleep. So she changed quickly and let herself fall into sleep and dreams. It was late when Rose awoke again, and out of sheer panic.

She quickly got up and slid her slippers and robe on as quietly as she could. However, Olivia was still woken up by all of the movement.

"Where are you going?" She hissed in alarm.

"I forgot one of my textbooks in the library. Madame Prince will shelf it tomorrow morning and I'll never get it back again. Which will mean I lost all my notes!"

"You promise that's where you're going?" Olivia asked.

"On my life, I swear. But if I don't get it back I will fail tomorrow's open note quiz."

"Ok go. But come back quickly so I don't worry about you."

"I'll be back in bed in 15 minutes, the library's not very far." Rose ran out of the room and debated getting the invisibility cloak, but she didn't really want to sneak into the boys' dormitory. Besides, at this hour of the night everyone in Hogwarts would be asleep anyway.

She slipped out of the portrait hall into the darkness of the castle and walked down the winding corridors to the library. She pushed open the creaking door as softly as she could and stepped carefully inside. Madame Prince wasn't there, as expected, and Rose walked purposefully to the back table against the potions wall. There was her book, untouched and still open to the page she left it on. She let out a sigh of relief and hugged the worn copy, practically kissing her margin notes. After saying a few silent thank you's, Rose walked quietly out of the library. She walked slowly down the hall and took the time to greet the paintings that were awake. She wasn't crying, which was a good sign. Maybe it meant she was healing? But she knew that it really meant that she was simply lying to herself to try and make everything ok.

She was wrapped up in her thoughts as she made her way down the shadowy halls of the castle. Suddenly, she heard a clang from the direction that she was headed in. On instinct alone, Rose swiftly changed her course and began rapidly walking in the other direction. Cruel laughter echoed down the halls in a sinister rhythm and Rose felt her heart beating faster. She was running down the hallway now, only stopping once to look behind her. Hot on her trail were five mysterious hooded students that were now chasing Rose. She began to run faster, pushed onward by the clanging of her slippers against the floor. But when Rose turned the corner, she remembered where she was. This was the end of the hallway- a dead end.

Rose Weasley was trapped.

**Please please please please review. I want to know what you think about this chapter/the idea in general. I really hope you all like where this is going, but please let me know your opinion/thoughts/concerns in the reviews :) **


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello everyone!**

**First off, I must tell you how much I love you all. Not only do I have wonderful reviewers who gave me some very very kind and reassuring reviews this week (thank you thank you thank you thank you to each and every one of you), but if your reading this right now it means you have read 24 chapters of this story and are still enjoying it, which makes me smile :)**

**I'm (again) extremely excited to be publishing this chapter today. This is a story line I've been thinking about since december and it's now march, so it's been a long time coming! I hope you all enjoy it, and I really hope you all will review so I can hear what you think!**

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 25

"Well look who it is", one of the tall masked figures said. "The daughter of the perfect family."

"What do you want Goyle?" Rose demanded. He might have been masked, but that voice she would have recognized anywhere.

She reached inside of her pocket for her wand as discretely as she could, but she was too late. As she was just beginning to feel the wood on her fingers, she was blasted back by what felt like a punch of air. Her entire body was pushed into the air and thrown against the cold, stone wall. She felt the wind get knocked out of her and struggled to regain some sense of breath. Her vision was foggy and the pain was beginning to settle in as she crash to the ground. The cruel laughter of the Slytherins filled the air along with her scream. Before she could even stand again, she was tossed against the wall once more, only this time she heard more crunching from her bones breaking. Rose could feel herself losing consciousness; the pain was overtaking her conscious mind. She started to scream until her throat was sore, but it was no use. The hallway was silenced and she was alone.

Her mangled form lay on the ground, completely defenseless. The Slytherins were hollering with laughter at her tortured expression. One of the hooded students leaned over her and stuck their wand on her head, "Crucio" he whispered vilely.

Pain like nothing Rose had ever experienced overtook her. It felt like her whole body was burning and being stabbed with knifes all at the same time. She felt like her lungs were drowning in cold water and suffocating her until she couldn't breath at all. Her eyes were being pricked with needles and then pulled slowly out of her eyes. There were sensations and pains that Rose didn't even know how to describe but they filled her agony and her screams were deafening. She didn't even know what was real and what was simply magic, because she thought she felt a blade against her flesh. Her entire body was in agonizing pain and Rose was barely able to cope.

Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she was reminded that she had to think about something happy, like when you conjured a patronus. Something to elevate the pain. In that moment, all she could think about was Scorpius. She tried to capture the feeling she got when he kissed her and grabbed onto it like a lifeline. That small little glimmer of hope kept her from falling under the spell of the torture.

Finally, the pain stopped and she began to gulp for air, trying to regain control over her body. Goyle leaned over her practically lifeless form and whispered in her ear, "beg for mercy. Come on blood traitor, say it."

She could hardly speak at all; it felt like her throat wouldn't work anymore after her cries of pain. "No." She whispered. Her mother was brave when Beletrix Lestrange was torturing her; Rose would have to find that same confidence.

"No? Then tell us not to stop then." The masked figures voice taunted her in a way she couldn't describe. She could feel herself boiling with rage.

She didn't say anything; she simply laid there on the floor attempting to stay conscious. She knew once she blacked out that anything could happen to her, and she wasn't prepared for that.

"You asked for it, remember that when we spill your dirty blood. Crucio"

And the fight for sanity roared on.

Olivia stared at her ticking clock. Rose had been gone too long now, it was far past 15 minutes. Olivia asked herself if she was being paranoid, because after what happened to Lily she kept having nasty dreams. But no, this was Rose. She wouldn't dawdle on her way back to the dormitory after she knew Olivia was waiting up for her.

She hopped off her bed and tied on her shoes, not even bothering to put on socks. She quickly grabbed the first thing she saw, which happened to be a school robe, and opened the door as quietly as she could. She quietly ran down the stairs from the girls tower and crossed over to the boys. It felt odd going up this side of the Gryffindor tower, but she had to find Albus. Without the map she might not be able to find Rose.

She quietly opened the door and slipped inside the 6th year boy dormitory. She tip toed over to Albus' bed, avoiding the quidditch gear strung carelessly around their room, and crept up beside him. She pulled out her wand and whispered "muffliato" and they shook his shoulders gently.

"Albus, get up." Her nervous eyes searched his.

"Olivia? What's wrong?" She loved how he knew she was worried without even having to tell him, but she couldn't focus on that right now.

"It's Rose, she should have been back a long time ago. I need the map." Olivia insisted. Albus crawled out of bed and rummaged through his bag. He pulled out what seemed to be a simple piece of parchment and then motioned for her to go over to the door. Once they had both snuck out of his dorm, they quickly went down the stairs and into the common room.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Albus said quickly and began flinging open the map's pages. "Where was she supposed to be?" He asked frantically.

"The library, check around there." The two of them scanned the map until they found a group on Slytherins with Rose in the middle.

"Oh dear god." Olivia drew a hand to her mouth and they both shot terrified looks at each other. Before they even made a plan, the two of them were sprinting out of the common room and through the halls to make it to Rose. Olivia's fear of finding Rose in a injured state or worse drove her through the corridors as fast as she could run. The two of them reached for their wands at practically the same time as they were rounding the last corner and yelled different curses at the two closest Slytherins.

The group of hooded figures turned to face them and began to duel, two against five. Luckily, Albus and Olivia managed to disarm the first two Slytherins so well that their wands flew out the open window behind them. The pair began to run away from the couple as fast as they could. This made the fight a little fairer.

"Stupify!" Olivia yelled at the mysterious student. The boy fired back a different spell as they began their duel. She had to admit, the Slytherin was good. But Olivia was better.

The two of them chased each other down the hall throwing spells and yelling curses until Olivia managed to knock him out against a wall breaking his right ankle. With that he simply began to run, knowing he had no chance in hell to beat Olivia now. Olivia began chasing after him (as he had a significant limp now and she would catch up with him easily) until Albus yelled to her, "Rose! Get Rose!" Olivia cursed and ran back as Albus was finishing off the last Slytherin (who was putting up a very good fight) and she knelt next to Rose. It was heartbreaking to look at her, she was covered in her own blood and her limbs were bent out at strange angles. Olivia was frozen by the image of Rose's broken body. Unsure of what to do she tried to pick up the near-lifeless form and could manage to drag her across the ground. Albus was close to finishing off his dueling partner, but she could let him wait that long.

"Albus, just let him go. I need your help." The Slytherin began to run, knowing that Albus would now be distracted. Olivia and Albus carried Rose all the way to the hospital wing as fast as their feet would let them go. But, once they arrived they found that Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be found.

"Go get Professor Longbottom, he'll know what to do." Albus told Olivia.

"I don't want to leave her alone!" Olivia insisted, still terrified.

"She won't be alone, she'll be with me." Albus reminded her. Olivia turned to leave and find Professor Longbottom and Albus stayed there still clutching Rose's hand.

"Rose? Goddamn it, why you? I already almost lost one sister. What's going to happen if I loose you too?" He tried to stop the hot tears from brimming over his eyes, but they fell slowly onto Rose's hand. "Can you hear me? Are you awake?" He shook her softly but she was unconscious, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. "When will you wake up?" He asked himself. A more terrifying question came out next, "Will you come back to us the same know-it-all, talented, wonderful person you were before?" At that he really broke down and started to sob. He thought of Neville's parents, the ones his dad told him about who went crazy under the curse. What if that was Rose?"

He held her hand tighter like it was the only thing that would keep her from slipping away. He continued to cry over her body, fearing that she might be gone for good. What was the last thing he had said to her? He couldn't even remember.

It may have been only two minutes or two hours, Albus didn't know. But soon enough Olivia and Neville came running into the hospital wing. Neville murmured a spell and a new doorway appeared out of the wall near the entrance to the hospital wing, clearly Madame Pomfrey's bedroom. He quickly began to bang on it, "Madame Pomfrey, we have an emergency." He yelled desperately. Albus knew that Neville must have been as worried about Rose as they were. He was practically an Uncle to her.

Madame Pomfrey quickly emerged from her room and went over to Rose. A gasp quickly escaped her and she looked like she may faint.

"Ok, Albus, go get Professor McGonagall. Olivia, please use the floo network in my office to contact the Weasleys. I'll stay here with Rose until you both get back." Neville told them. There was little Albus could do to say no to him, so he nodded his head and went out into the deep night of the castle.

Scorpius couldn't sleep.

Or rather, when he slept he was awoken with the memory of the fight he had with Rose.

He felt awful. And not the awful that just makes you feel a little queasy. The awful that causes your whole stomach feel like it's going to spill it's contents every time you think of it. Why had he said those things? He didn't really mean them. True, he was scared about what would happen, but break up with her? What was he thinking?

But then again, how selfish of him to take Rose's future away from her like that. Take her security away. Take her family away. He couldn't do that. He just couldn't watch himself ruin her life.

But he couldn't live without her either.

Scorpius knew it was somewhat ridiculous to think this way when you're only sixteen. But something about Rose was different and he would be a fool not to know that. They both knew how important this relationship was to them so how could Scorpius believe for a second that she would agree with him?

He had been thrashing in his sleep and his covers were almost completely off him. However, he had awoken in a sweat every time from his nightmares. He had tried to relax but he couldn't, so he knew he had to get some fresh air.

He walked out of the dungeons quietly; afraid his echoing footsteps would wake someone. It was almost pitch-black darkness down there with no windows, but he managed to find his way to the staircase. He wandered up the stairs and walked passed the main floor of the castle. He considered taking a walk on the second floor, but the moment he got there peeves began to fly around the corner.

And that was one ghost he did not want to see right now.

So he walked up the stairs to the next level only to run smack into Albus.

What the hell was he doing here?

"Albus?" Scorpius asked, shocked.

Albus skipped the formalities, "She's in the hospital wing Scorpius. She was attacked." His eyes looked frantic as Scorpius began to run down the hall to her. "Wait!" Albus called. "You can't go in there, Professor Longbottom won't understand why and he might ask you about it. Take the cloak." Albus handed it to Scorpius as a strange kind of peace offering and he gave Albus a weak smile.

"Thanks Albus, for everything."

"Don't worry about it." He replied and then two ran off in different directions.

Scorpius rushed to the hospital wing doors and slipped in them as quietly as possible so Professor Longbottom wouldn't notice. Quietly, he tiptoed across the floor to get to Rose. When he saw her he had to cover his mouth to stop him from letting out a scream of horror.

Rose, his beloved Rose, lying there covered in her own crimson blood. Her face was so pale it almost was the color of the sheets she was surrounded by. Her breath wasn't audible as she stayed frozen in front of him. Her face was covered in bruises that were already forming and gashes that cut her cheek open. Her eyes were closed, but he could see a trickle of blood coming from the left one.

Her clothes were a mess, her robe was torn in many places and the collar of her shirt caught the pool of blood dripping off her neck. Her hair was tangled and had been covered in a mixture of sweat and dirt. He reached out to touch her hand and it felt cold, so he instantly recoiled. He cast a silencing charm over himself so that no one would be able to hear his sobs.

This was worse than any nightmare he had ever had. In his nightmares he always lost her, but he never made it to the place where she looked like this. His beautiful and delicate Rose had been crushed.

He immediately felt a wave of guilt so strong that he had to clamp his mouth shut to stop himself from vomiting. He had practically told Rose hours before that he didn't think they should be together. The words he never meant might have been the last words he ever said to her. The thought was so awful that he curled into a ball on the floor and cried until he could hardly breathe. He hadn't cried like this since he was a little boy; his father thought it was a sign of weakness. But at that moment he didn't care at all. He only hoped that he would get his Rose back.

The thoughts began to swim around his mind like flies saying things like "what if she's dead? What if they killed her?" or "What if they put her under the crutacius curse? What if she goes crazy like Neville's parents?" Or the one he couldn't even bare to voice, what if those Slytherin's had forced themselves on her…

That one broke his already shattered heart more. How could he have been so careless? How did this even happen? What if it was his fault? What if she was looking for him?

Madame Pomfrey was trying to heal Rose' wounds and Scorpius could hardly watch. She lifted off her schools robes and exposed her torso to show even more gashes where blood was oozing out. It was torture to watch what they did to Rose and not be able to do anything but cry. He felt that he should be avenging her in some way.

Madame Pomfrey put on something that looked like dittany to Rose's wounds and they began to heal very, very slowly. Olivia and Albus returned with Professor McGonagall and tears nearly escaped her eyes as well. However, she refused to let herself cry and instead went over to talk with Professor Longbottom in the hall outside of the hospital wing. Olivia and Albus stayed behind and waited with Scorpius by her bedside until Madame Pomfrey had finished giving her potions and spreading dittany on her gashes. After that she left the students to wait with Rose and went out to find Professor Longbottom and the Headmistress so she could discuss the next action to take. As soon as she left Scorpius lifted the invisibility cloak off of him so he could hold her hand. It was still cold to the touch and it gave him a shiver down his spine. He looked at her awful state and wanted to cradle her in his arms, but he couldn't.

"Scorpius, you should come in tomorrow saying you feel sick so that you can stay here with Rose, since you aren't considered family." Olivia said.

He couldn't speak but nodded his head slowly, not taking his eyes off Rose. There was sound from outside of the door and Scorpius quickly threw the cloak over his head.

Hermione and Ron burst into the room and ran over to their daughter's bedside. Hermione gave an audible gasp and then a small sob from the back of her throat. Her hand found Ron's and the two of them sat looking at Rose in pure shock.

"What happened?" Ron demanded to whoever was around to hear him.

"She ran into some Slytherins after curfew on the way back from the library. We found her like this, we don't know what happened." Olivia explained softly.

Madame Pomfrey interrupted, "That's not completely true. We can figure out a little bit. She has a mix of magical and non-magical wounds all over her body, she appears to have been both cursed and physically abused. The cuts look as if she was thrown against something or something way thrown against her. Either way, it took quite a toll on her body."

"How's her breathing?" Hermione asked as her head snapped up to meet the pitying eyes of Madame Pomfrey.

"It's not where I would like it, but she's a fighter. Your daughter is lucky to be alive Mrs. Weasley, she's very strong to have made it to this place."

"What about recovery?" Scorpius could tell that Mrs. Weasley was desperate for answers that would give her some kind of comfort.

"I cannot say. It's difficult to tell what kinds of curses they used and the mental effects of this might be the real problem." Scorpius was a bit surprised Madame Pomfrey was being so honest, but he appreciated her more for it.

"Mental damages? What exactly to you mean?" Ron asked with a frantic expression.

"We believe that she may have been under the cruciatus curse this evening. Being exposed to it at a young age is extremely dangerous and we don't know how she will be when she wakes up."

Hermione let another tear escape from her eye and she bit her lip to try and stop herself from letting out another sob. Rose was only a year younger than she was when she had faced the horrifying curse. Looking at Rose was like looking in a twisted mirror. "When do you think she'll wake up?" Hermione was able to choke out.

"I'm not sure. The more rest she has the better though, her body needs time to heal." Madame said gently.

"Should I contact the rest of the family?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes, thank you." Hermione replied, not taking her eyes off of her daughter. Madame Pomfrey and the Headmistress quietly left the room so that Hermione, Ron, Neville, Olivia, Albus, and Scorpius were alone.

"I'm so sorry." Neville whispered after a few minutes of silence. "You asked me to watch over everyone and I failed." The sound of his misery was heartbreaking for everyone in the room and Hermione took his hand.

"It's ok Neville. We could never blame you for this." She tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but to see her daughter almost dead was the most terrifying thing that had happened to her a very long time.

A few more minutes of silence went by, as they all were absorbed in their own thoughts and tears when the doors flew open. Hugo ran into the room whispering to himself, "no, no it's a lie. It's not as bad as it sounds". But he was stopped short when he saw the small crowed that was gathered around his sister's bed. He let out a wailing sob and began to cry with reckless abandonment. Stopping only to quickly draw breath, the poor boy wept for his sister. Hermione wrapped her arms around him and rocked him back and forth as he cried, trying to comfort him.

Scorpius felt like he shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be allowed to watch this when he had hurt Rose so much only the day before. He felt like her was violating her family's privacy, but at the same time he couldn't force himself to leave.

So he stayed crying by her side until the sun slowly began to shine on the horizon. He prayed all night that Rose would be awake by morning. That this was a terrible dream that he would awaken from. But with the new dawn came new even more terrifying thoughts that would haunt him until they tore him apart.

All he could do was wait.

**Did you love it? Hate it? Totally afraid about what's coming next? Have an opinion that doesn't fall under any of those categories? Then you should review!**

**Please?**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello all!**

**Wow, ok, so I have a fair amount of apologizing to do. First off, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to bring you this chapter (especially because the last one was a bit of a cliff hanger!) but I lost internet on the friday I was going to post this chapter and it didn't come back up until I had left on vacation. My hotel was supposed to have wifi, but it refused to connect to my computer and the chapter once again wasn't posted. I got back home late last night and so I apologize for the long delay, but I have been writing for the past few weeks! Which means hopefully my chapter-every-friday timeline will still be able to work! It's a large goal, but I'm ambitious. **

**I also want to apologize to the wonderful reviewers that I haven't yet had a chance to respond to! I am going to respond to them after posting this chapter, but I thought you all might want the chapter first. Also, thank you to the many wonderful incredible people who reviewed the last chapter! Your reviews are always so lovely and they really motivate me to write this story as fast as I can!**

**Without further ado: enjoy :)**

Chapter 26

Scorpius faked sick so that he could stay in the hospital with Rose and watch her recover. He felt immediately grateful that Albus had such a large supply of his uncle's joke products to get out of class, otherwise Scorpius would be more miserable than he was to begin with.

It was approaching nighttime again and Rose was still fast asleep. However, she showed significant progress that even made Scorpius smile a bit. Her cuts weren't oozing blood anymore and her skin had been cleaned of the red liquid as well. Her gashes still hadn't healed and would probably take a full week before the magical ones scabbed over, but they were slowly making progress. The little scraps and cuts on her face were gone and her lip was no longer split. Madame Pomfrey had cleaned Rose's robes with her wand so she wasn't surrounded by her own blood.

Blood. That word had begun to haunt Scorpius too. Apparently Rose had lost a lot of it and they were trying to put some more back in her body, but that was also a slow process.

Although Rose was looking slightly better on the outside, she wasn't looking so good on the inside. She had experienced head trauma that put her in a coma and they were afraid to pull her out of it magically. Sometimes, Madame Pomfrey said, it is better to let the body heal naturally. Maybe her body needs the coma to heal.

Scorpius wasn't so sure.

But every moment lying there was nerve-racking. He had the most terrible nightmares where he woke up panting and sweating profusely. The terror overwhelmed him and he couldn't fall asleep for hours afterwards. He dreamed of Rose's funeral and he had to see her body in a casket.

Madame Pomfrey made Mr. and Mrs. Weasley go sleep after the first all-nighter with Rose. She told them that Rose wasn't going to wake up in the middle of the night and then go back into the coma, if she woke up Madame Pomfrey would keep her up. And then she would alert the couple immediately. She also made all of Rose's friends and family members at the school visit her bedside in batches so that they didn't overwhelm the sleeping Rose. Scorpius thought this was ridiculous, but he didn't argue. He didn't want to get tossed out too.

So he stayed awake with Rose at night and slept by her side once Madame Pomfrey had gone to bed. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you" in her ear before her would wrap his arms around her and sleep by her side for a few hours. Then he would wake himself up before Madame Pomfrey came back so that they weren't caught.

He had done this for the past few nights, but on Friday he could tell Madame Pomfrey didn't believe his story anymore. However, he begged her to let him stay one more day so he could make sure he really was well. He had to spend as much time with Rose as possible.

So Scorpius watched as the world moved around him and Rose's family grieved in their own ways. Apparently Roxanne punched one of Goyle's friends on the way out of herbology, but no teacher reported it and when the Slytherin showed up to dinner that evening the bruise was gone as well.

Hugo hadn't attended any of his classes the past few days and even Hermione didn't mention it. The poor brother simply sat by her bedside all day and hardly ate. All of Rose's friends visited during any free time they had and stayed until they were kicked out by Madame Pomfrey.

Scorpius could feel the tension in the room when someone asked how she was doing. The truth was, no one knew. They were all waiting for her to wake up.

That night Scorpius waiting with anticipation for Madame Pomfrey to think that everyone was settled and asleep so that she could go to bed. The moment her door disappeared Scorpius took the invisibility cloak and went to Rose's bed. He laid down beside her and held her hand to his heart, hoping that this wouldn't be the last time they shared this kind of moment. He kissed her head again, feeling guilty for wanting her all to himself. He whispered like he always did "I love you" and curled up beside her. It could have been five minutes or an hour but he was lying awake watching her beautiful face when her eyes softly opened. He almost jumped off the bed with shock but he managed to maintain his composure.

"Rose?" He asked, scared she wouldn't know who he was. The silence that followed was probably less than a minute, but completely unbearable. The waiting seemed to be endless.

Finally, her hoarse voice whispered. "Scorpius?"

"Rose!" He exclaimed and kissed her passionately on the lips. "I was afraid I would never be able to do that again." His jubilation was then replaced with worry when her face broke out into a grimace.

"Where am I?" She asked and she winced from the pain of his embrace.

"You're in the hospital wing." He replied as calmly as he could.

"Why am I in the…" Rose began to ask but was interrupted by something else that seemed to have distracted her in her mind. "Oh, I remember now." Rose's face got very dark all of the sudden, like a black cloud had passed over her smile. "Wait, I don't understand how I got here. I don't remember being taken here, I certainly don't remember seeing you."

"You blacked out Rosie. Albus and Olivia came to find out after you had been missing from your dormitory for too long. They managed to carry you back here."

"Where are they now? Surely it's too dark to be morning already. Did they already leave?" She asked, clearly very confused.

"Rose, it's Friday. Or rather, very very early Saturday morning. You've been in a coma for the past few days." He answered.

"A coma?" Her eyes widened with disbelief. "Me?" She choked on her words again.

"That's why I was so worried you wouldn't wake up," Scorpius said as he took her hand. "I was afraid that I would lose you for good and never get to apologize for the things I said. Rose, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of that. I couldn't live without you; I realize that now. That momentary lapse of judgment was just my way of trying to prevent you from looking like, well, this. But I see now that it was a mistake and that I want you to be mine forever Rose. Please forgive me."

After he had said his small speech Rose nodded quickly and a tear escaped her eyes. "If you ever pull that again Scorpius…"

"I won't, I swear Rose." He sounded like he was begging now.

"Ok, then we can consider it forgotten." She said with a weak smile and then winced in pain. "Scorpius, I love you, but now that I'm conscious you can't lean on me. I can't take any extra weight on me right now."

"Sorry!" He said and quickly jumped off. He straightened out her blankets and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Everything hurts so much. My head is throbbing, my shoulders ache, my legs have this strange burning sensation and I can feel a chunk of skin missing from my torso." She said before laying her head back on the pillow.

"You won't believe me Rose, but you look a lot better than you did a few days ago. That was the scariest moment of my life, you were bleeding so much." He confessed and bit his lip to stop himself from crying again.

"When did you get here?" she asked him.

"About half and hour after you did, and I never left. I faked sick so I could stay here and make sure you were ok." He admitted.

She smiled warmly at him and tried to lean up to kiss him, but he came down to meet her so that she wouldn't have to endure as much pain. The two of them shared a quick kiss, but Scorpius' entire heart swelled in pure ecstasy.

He wasn't going to loose her after all.

But when she pulled back her face was contorted in pain, "I've never felt this awful in my life." She sighed and leaned back against her pillow.

"What exactly happened to you Rose? If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But how did you get this injured?" Scorpius was afraid to know the answer, but he had to. He couldn't sit there and wonder what had happened on that awful night.

"I went to the library, I forgot a book when I was there earlier. I was worried that it would get shelved and you know that once that happens Madame won't let you take it out of the library, so it's practically useless. Anyway, I went to retrieve my book and as I was coming out I ran into a group of four or five hooded students. I don't remember exactly how many, it's all a bit of a blur now. I remember Goyle though, his voice was too distinctive not to recognize. He was the first one to fire a curse. After that I didn't have a prayer. I lost grip on my wand as I was thrown against the wall the first time,"

"The first time?" Scorpius interrupted, clearly shocked. But Rose simply nodded and continued her story, now rapidly recalling that night.

"And then I think I fell to the ground and heard something snap, that's when the pain started to kick in. And it was bad, but nothing like what was coming. I was thrown against the wall a second time; I think I was only thrown twice. Or at least, that's all I remember. Then I don't know who did it, but they put me under the cruciatus curse. I don't know for how long, it's hard to tell when you are under it, but it was a while. And it was repeatedly because I wouldn't beg them to stop." Rose was crying now; the tears streaming down her face broke Scorpius' heart. "I… I was bad off. I was loosing it; I could feel myself giving into the pain. But then I thought of you, and I was ok. I mean, I wasn't ok, but I could live." She gave a quiet sob and then tried to continue her story. "But I don't remember much else. I remember some of these marks; someone took off the chuck of skin that is missing from my stomach during the cruciatus curse. And my broken toes are from when someone crushed them with their foot."

"Dear god Rose, I'm so happy you're alive. I was so worried I was going to loose you." Scorpius reached out and held her hand.

"I was too. I don't remember anything after that, I blacked out." Rose said and squeezed his hand a bit. "Is everyone else ok?" She asked softly.

"No one else is physically hurt, but everyone is worried sick about you. Hugo cried so much when he first found out that I was shocked he had more tears to cry after that. Your parents are both here; they're terrified as well. Your mom looks really shaken, but your dad's trying to comfort her. Obviously all of your other friends and family are in a state of mourning and anger, and they come here all of the time. Whenever they have the slightest bit of free time they come here. In fact, a lot of times they have to work around a schedule of who can visit you when because Madame Pomfrey will only allow so many. They are all so scared about losing you."

"And the Slytherins?" Rose asked.

"Well, besides Rose punching one of Goyle's clones in the face, there hasn't been any reprimanding action. I think they were trying to wait until you woke up." She nodded her head at this, as if it made perfect sense.

"I can't believe you waited here for me for days. What about your schoolwork?" Only Rose would ask that kind of question, Scorpius thought to himself. But he loved her for it.

"I'll make it up. Madame is making me leave in the morning. I think she knows I'm faking by now. But I promise I'll come and visit you at nights like this until you get out of here. It might be a little while Rose, you're still in a pretty bad condition."

"I know. I'm sure I looked lovely too." Rose said sarcastically.

"You do. You've never looked more beautiful," Scorpius said sincerely.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better Scorp, I'm ok with looking disgusting for a few days."

"No really, you look beautiful. You have blush in your cheeks again, your gorgeous eyes are open, and your skin is getting it natural glow back. You look so beautiful to me." Rose broke into a large smile her cheeks blushed even more.

"Well, I'll be happy when I'm up and about again. I can't believe I've missed this much school. I've never missed a day of school in my life! Oh what will my professors think of me?" She fretted and Scorpius had to hold back the urge to laugh.

"Rose, you were in a coma. I think they'll understand." Scorpius tried to reason with her.

"Well, they'll understand but know they're going to pity me for the rest of the semester and they won't let me actually work on practical magic! They'll be afraid I'm going to break or something."

"Shh," Scorpius quieted her worrying by kissing her forehead. "If it were me, I'd want this whole night to be with you. But I saw how scared your parents were earlier, and they deserve to know you're ok."

"You're right. Will you get Madame Pomfrey? I'll pretend I just woke up." She said with a small wink. Her voice still sounded very weak, so it wouldn't be much of a challenge.

Scorpius gave her one last, perfect kiss before alerting the rest of the family that Rose was ok.

Rose Weasley was going to live.

**Yay! Rose is going to live! What did you think? Hopefully you liked it, but please tell me your reactions/questions/thoughts in the reviews! **


	27. Chapter 27

**Why, hello my dears! It's friday, and I'm pretty excited that I got this update out on time!  
First of all, thank you so much to the lovely people who reviewed this past week! Really, you are all wonderful and I cannot thank you enough for sharing your opinions with me!  
Second, for those of you who don't know, I'm going to try to update this story now every Friday. It's super ambitious, but I feel like if I post my goal here I will have a better chance of sticking with it. Crazy? Maybe, but I did it anyway!**

**Enjoy :) **

Chapter 27

Hermione and Ron came as quickly as they could, followed shortly by Albus, Hugo, Lily, Roxanne, Molly, and Lucy. The rest of her friends were forced to find out the next day as Madame Pomfrey didn't want Rose to get overwhelmed with people. And of course, Scorpius stayed "asleep" on a bed nearby so he could hear what was going on.

Rose was forced to re-tell the story of what happened to her to Professor McGonagall and the members of her family who were present. The tension in the room was evident and it was clear that Ron especially was going to make sure something was done about it. Rose mentioned that she recognized Goyle's voice among her attackers, but the rest of them were masked and Rose couldn't see their faces.

Professor McGonagall then left poor Rose to reunite with her family and walked out of the hospital wing. Albus filled in a few of the missing pieces of Rose's story to professor McGonagall earlier, and now she was desperate to know more. What did she look like when she had come here? How bad was it truly? Why did she feel so incredibly drained and weak?

But Rose was overjoyed to see her family surrounding her. The night of her attack was terrifying, but it helped her to know that she had people who cared so much about her and would do anything to make her feel better. It was nice to know that she wasn't nearly as alone as she thought.

Hermione made all of the students in the hospital wing go down and eat breakfast now that Rose was feeling better. Then Madame Pomfrey made Hermione and Ron leave too so Rose could get some more sleep, as if she hadn't had enough of it. But Rose was surprised at how easily her eyes shut and she drifted into dreams.

The next two days the Rose fell into a strange kind of pattern. Every morning she was greeted by her family and friends before they went down to breakfast. Then her parents came in and ate breakfast with Rose as they talked about what was going on around the school. After that, her friends would come to visit her in smaller groups (because of Madame Pomfrey's demands) and in the late afternoon, Rose would take a nap again to regain her strength. Then she would be visited by more friends and family at Hogwarts who wanted to share stories or show her something or tell her what had been going on in the outside world. Scorpius was often there as well, but he stayed hidden. Rose couldn't understand exactly why, but he hated to leave her side.

In fact, Scorpius was feeling only slightly better about this whole situation. He still felt like the whole thing was kind of his fault. It was completely unlike Rose to be forgetful, obviously the fight they had the night before distracted her. And if she hadn't gone to the library she would have never gotten attacked in the first place. And he was supposed to protect her, when it was clear that he had failed.

He also felt like he didn't deserve her forgiveness about their argument. It was awful of him to put her through that and he deserved to be hexed until he was down on his knees. But, Rose forgave him without batting an eye. Sometimes he felt like he didn't deserve her at all.

It was these thoughts that swarmed around his head as he sat and leaned against the cold stone wall outside the hospital wing. He was around the corner from the entrance, so it was difficult to see him if you weren't looking. But when you have the marauders map, nothing's difficult.

Albus was walking towards the hospital wing when he noticed Scorpius' dot on the map. He walked over to the blonde-haired Slytherin and noticed that he was completely hunched over with his head was resting in his hands. It didn't take a genius to realize that something was wrong.

"Hey, Scorpius, are you ok?" Albus asked before he could stop himself.

Scorpius looked a little startled and surprised, but managed to reply. "Yeah, sort of. Not really." He paused for a moment, "I will be."

"What's wrong?" Albus asked as he went to sit down with him. Maybe it was the huge amount of grief over the possibility of loosing Rose, but Albus kind of wanted to get to know Scorpius better. Maybe he was everything Rose said he was.

"I feel really guilty about what happened to Rose. I was distracting her that night and that's what made her forget her book, I'm sure of it. I'm the reason she left her dorm." He admitted painfully.

"Do I want to know what you did to distract her?" Albus asked cautiously.

Scorpius sighed, "We got into a big fight the night before. The largest we've ever had since we started dating, actually. We sort of almost broke up."

"How did that happen?" Albus was surprised. He had noticed that Scorpius was spending the nights with her in the hospital wing the past couple days; he could see it on the map.

"I was afraid something like this would happen when people found out I was dating her. So I told her I didn't want her to get hurt because of me. I didn't want to be the cause for whatever awful thing happened to her." Scorpius said quietly.

Albus gave a strange kind of laugh, "I've heard that line before. My dad said that to my mum before the war. Let's just say she didn't take it well."

"Ahh," Scorpius replied, "that explains a lot."

"You know, my parents got back together after the war ended." Albus began to explain, "I mean, it was still very dangerous. Hell, being related to my dad at all is dangerous. But if you ask my mom today she'll tell you that the danger was completely worth it. That she would have never been truly happy without my father." Albus was surprised at how much he was telling Scorpius, but he continued nonetheless.

"Don't let fear ruin your relationship Scorpius. If what you have with Rose is anything like what my parents have then you shouldn't give it up for anything. I've never seen two people that have been so happy with each other for so long."

Scorpius nodded and said, "I don't want to give her up. Not at all. But I don't think I deserved her forgiveness."

"I know Rose, consider this time a friendly warning. She forgave you because she doesn't think you're going to do it again. But if you betray her and you end up hurting her, there's a good chance she won't forgive you again." Albus explained.

"I don't intend on ever hurting her like that again. Besides, I don't think she could have gotten more injured than she did this past week and lived to tell the tale."

"That's true. I guess it did sort of conquer that fear, in a way." Scorpius followed Albus' statement with a sarcastic laugh; even though nothing really made him feel like laughing at all.

"I just wonder if I'm ruining her life sometimes. My family and I won't be close at all once I graduate from Hogwarts. But your family is so different." He sat and thought for a moment, "It's the kind of family everyone wants."

"Scorpius, you've made Rose happier than I've seen her in a long time. No matter how much family you have, you still need something else. Rose needed you. So stop trying to take that away from her." Albus protested.

"I guess your right. It's funny how it takes something like this to make your world a little less complicated in some ways." Scorpius remarked.

"In some ways." Albus echoed. "When are you planning to tell everyone? Rose mentioned you talked with Uncle George."

"And Teddy and Victoire." Scorpius said with a smile, remembering the Hogsmede visit. "It was good to get some advice. But I think Rose is still worried about her dad's reaction. Hell, I don't blame her."

"I don't think you should be there. When he finds out." Albus told him.

"Why?" Scorpius said.

Albus leaned back against the wall, "because I think he'll actually try to kill you." He said with a strange kind of smirk. "Maybe Rose's near death experience will give the two of you some sympathy votes."

"That's not exactly comforting." Scorpius remarked.

"Yeah, but it's true." Albus got back up on his feet, "I should go, I promised Rose I would come visit her before we start quidditch practice."

"Trying to squeeze in a few extra hours Captain? Are you getting worried?" Scorpius replied with a smirk.

"No, we just want to have time to practice our victory speeches." Albus replied as he began walking down the hall. "See you Scorpius," he said as he walked out of sight.

"Rose, you know that we are only a floo message away if you need us. And we mean that with all of our hearts." Hermione said to her daughter. It was Monday now and Ron and Hermione were asked by the ministry to return to work seeing as Rose was going to be fine.

"I'm in good hands mum, you don't need to worry." Rose assured her and placed a hand over her mother's.

"Are you sure? Because I could ask Harry to cover some of my shifts." Ron said as he fixed Rose's hair.

"Dad really, I'll be fine. I'm feeling a lot better, I'm starting to heal, I think I could be in classes by Friday easily…"

"No," her mother interrupted. "Not a chance, you are in this bed until next Monday at least."

"But, that's only three days more than Friday would be," she protested.

"Rose, you need your rest. I'm sure your teachers will be more than understanding." Her mother tried to persuade her.

"But what if I'm missing something that will be on my N.E. next year!" She exclaimed.

"That won't happen, you will have only missed two weeks." Her mother reminded her.

"Do I have any say in the matter?" Rose asked.

"No sweetheart, we're making you rest. You need time to recover." Her father replied.

"Alright. But then you better write to me or I'll be bored out of my mind." She started to smile.

"Everyday. Twice a day, if you want us to." Her mum smiled down at her and gave her a hug goodbye. Her father followed suit and gave her a soft hug as if afraid he might break her.

Soon enough her parents had said their goodbyes and Rose was left with very little to do. Albus and the rest of her friends were all at quidditch practice. Even Olivia, who Albus insisted had to be with him at all times because she was involved in saving Rose.

That was Rose's other problem: the Slytherins who attacked her. The only one she knew for sure was Goyle because she remembered his voice. The rest of them couldn't be punished because she didn't recognize any of them. And even though Albus and Olivia knew who most of them were they had to claim their thoughts were only guesses. In reality, they had seen the Slytherin group on the map and knew exactly who was present. But they couldn't admit the existence of the map to the Headmistress; it would only cause other problems.

So Goyle was, to the shock of some students, expelled from Hogwarts. After that it would be up to the ministry to deal with him, as using the cruciatus curse on someone was not tolerated and against the law. It comforted Rose in a strange way to see him gone from the school, but there were still other students lurking in the halls who attacked her. That kind of knowledge tended to haunt her in her dreams.

Rose attempted to forget about her attack as much as possible, but that kind of experience could wake you up from your sleep in pure terror for years, and she felt lucky that Scorpius was there to hold her tight when she woke up in tears. He was her greatest source of comfort, and the true reason for her recovery.

And for that she would be grateful forever.

**Would you review and make me very grateful :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Happy Friday everyone! Thank you SO much to everyone who has reviewed the last chapter, your reviews mean so much to me and I can't thank you enough! **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 28

Rose was going crazy.

No no, not _that _kind of crazy. But being stuck in the hospital for so many days with no school work was making her desperate for something to do. She had counted every crack in the walls and every stain on the ceiling but that kind of tedious thing still drove her crazy. She had visitors every day, but they came less frequently because they had to make-up all of the course work they had been missing. She didn't blame them for this, Rose would do the same thing, but she missed everyone terribly and wanted to know what was going on outside her small room.

But today was her last day, or her last night rather. She could leave after breakfast tomorrow and sleep in her own dorm, provided that she not do any schoolwork at all if it felt overwhelming. Rose would ignore that notion entirely, of course, because it was Sunday now and she was dying to get back into her old rhythm of things.

Nighttime had fallen over the castle and she tried to guess what her siblings were doing. Were they playing exploding snap in the common room? Did Henry and Mackenzie manage to slip off into a broom cupboard somewhere? Was Roxanne charming her nails to change colors again? Was Albus off furiously scribbling quidditch plays in a notebook for tomorrow's practice?

Either way, she wished she was apart of it.

Another hour passed and Madame Pomfrey went to bed, leaving Rose truly alone in the hospital wing. She watched the shadows dance along the wall and listened to the quiet hum of evening activity in the castle. Everything was calm and peaceful.

The door to the hospital wing creaked open slowly and Rose felt her spine straighten. It was probably just a teacher or one of her family members. It was no big deal.

Her breath started to quicken, time seemed to slow down, her eyes were intently focused on the door. Her hands gripped her sheets tightly and she could feel her eyes begin to widen in anticipation.

Then a head popped in, and Rose felt all of her tension float away with one sigh as she saw her boyfriend's signature smirk. Her head flopped back against her pillow and she giggled to herself.

"I thought we agreed it was to risky for you to keep coming to see me like this." Rose tried to sound angry, but failed miserably.

"And I thought we agreed that I miss you too much to stay away," he reminded her and planted a kiss on her forehead before sitting down beside her.

"You know I get out of here tomorrow right?" She said quietly as to avoid waking Madame Pomfrey.

"Yes, but I couldn't wait that long. Besides, I'm sure your family won't let you out of their sight." They both shared quiet laughter and Rose reached out to grab his hand. Their relationship seemed to have changed after this; he was now much more careful around her. They both were more tender, more cautious with each other while Rose seemed so weak.

"That's true," She murmured while she made room for Scorpius to lie next to her. Scorpius raised an eyebrow at this movement and Rose felt her cheeks blush, "Oh what? It's not like you haven't done it before…"

He shrugged but laid down next to her and the wrapped her in his arms. The two lay there for a while, each wrapped up in their own thoughts and concerns. Rose was still worrying about schoolwork, how would she ever catch up?

But it was hard to worry about those kinds of things when Scorpius surrounded her, and his strong arms held her close. She loved the safe feeling she had when he was with her like this and she closed her eyes to bring only thoughts of him to her mind. But her eyes became heavier and her thoughts became more distant and softly, Rose fell asleep

"What the hell?" Hugo demanded as he burst in the hospital wing. He stood in front of the sleeping Rose and Scorpius with Mackenzie, Henry, Becca, Olivia, Albus, Roxanne, and Lily who were all waiting to escort Rose downstairs early for breakfast.

"You!" Hugo yelled again. "What the bloody hell are YOU doing here?" Rose could tell he would wake Madame Pomfrey and so she put a silencing charm on him quickly.

"Hugo, please, just let me explain." Rose pleaded quietly.

Rose couldn't hear what Hugo was yelling anymore, but it wasn't pleasant. Finally, he got so angry that he simply ran out of the hospital wing. Rose was out of bed at this point and running after him. "Hugo, wait!" She yelled as she ran out of the hospital wing.

But Albus caught up with her, "Let me handle this Rose. You shouldn't have to deal with Hugo today, remember? No overwhelming yourself?" He squeezed her shoulder and then ran off.

Rose then realized that Scorpius was now behind her, as he had followed her out of the hospital wing. She turned quickly to face him, "I'll catch up with you later. I think Henry might try to beat you up with Hugo if he comes back. Go down to breakfast, I'll meet you after dinner." She promised and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.

Here it was, it finally happened. Everyone knew. Or, almost everyone.

Rose wasn't really sure what to do now, should she try to explain to the rest of her friends? Part of her wanted to, but when she turned around she saw them all with shocked expressions waiting for her in the doorway. There was a moment that seemed to last for an eternity when no one spoke. Finally, Becca said something.

"How long?" She asked, her tone cold.

"November." Rose replied quietly.

"November?" Mackenzie echoed. "That's why you broke it off with Ben then, wasn't it?"

All Rose could do was nod solemnly and avert her eyes from theirs. They all carried different expressions: shock, hurt, anger, concern, betrayal, and confusion. Rose didn't know how she could possibly address everyone at once, but she knew she had to say something. Rose simply blurted out, "I love him. I love him, and I'm sorry." And with that the tears began to stream down her face and she ran away from them. She knew it was childish off her to do that, but she didn't care, it's what felt right to her. She couldn't bear to stay with them anymore.

She then pondered what to do. Skipping breakfast was obvious; there was no way she would be able to run into her friends there and stay calm. But what about classes? She would be forced to work with Mackenzie, Henry, and Becca who all probably hated her now. What was she going to do?

She quietly went back up to her dorm to get changed into her school robes and grab her books. From there, she went to visit Professor Longbottom because Herbology was her first class that day.

The walk down to the greenhouses was calming in a way; she loved surrounding herself with the beautiful scenery around Hogwarts. She enjoyed the rhythm of her shoes tapping against the stone path and the spring wind whistling through the trees. She loved to watch the weak morning sun begin to give life to everything around her and illuminate the dew on the grass.

Professor Longbottom must have noticed her walking down because he opened the door to let her in, "Rose! I wasn't expecting you so early this morning." He said in a cheery voice.

"Sorry Professor, but I just wanted to get a headstart on the day." She tried to match his happy tone.

"Really? I would have guessed you would want to spend time in the great hall with your friends." He mused.

"Yes, well, I thought about that. But I wasn't so excited about people asking me what happened during the attack, for the few students who actually haven't heard the gory details." She kept a lighthearted air about her, trying to push off the fear of what her friends would say to her when they arrived in class.

"That's fair. And I also assume you're going to try and get the work that you've missed the past two weeks?" He said with a slight smirk in his voice.

"Yes, of course," She replied with a genuine smile.

"Well, I'm very sorry to tell you this Rose, but I'm afraid that won't be possible. There is no way you are making up any of the assignments I have given out over the last week, and you already read the textbook for this class over the summer, so you should be more than fine."

"But… but what if I missed something the textbook didn't cover! I mean, I don't remember _everything_ I read! I really only skimmed it…"

"Rose, you know the answer to every question I ask the class. If that is your version of skimming then you are so much like your mother."

"I get that a lot," Rose confessed and then took at seat on one of the wooden stools. "Well, can I at least help you set up today's lesson?" She offered, feeling like she needed some manual labor to take her mind off of earlier events.

"Of course," Neville smiled and handed her strange potted plants to distribute around the tables. But sadly, it only made her think about her worries around the discovery this morning. How had she and Scorpius drifted off to sleep last night and not remembered to get up early. And now everyone knew, and hopefully they hadn't told anyone.

That was the other thing: Rose was kicking herself mentally for not asking them to keep it a secret. Or to at least asking what they thought about the whole thing. Technically, no one had yelled at her but Hugo, whose reaction Rose felt horribly guilty about. He was already so fragile emotionally after what had just happened to Rose, but this could push him over the edge.

She began to hear students walk down to the greenhouses and felt a wave of anxiousness. What if her friends started yelling at her in front of everyone? What would she say?

She sat down at their regular table and waited for her fellow Gryffindor's to come, but they were all the last ones through the door. They took their regular seats and waited until Professor Longbottom was finished giving instructions before any of them even looked at her. Eventually, he paired them up so that Rose was with Becca, the last person she wanted to explain her relationship to.

"Rose, how could you not tell us." Rebecca hissed under her breath as they began to open up the strange plant. "I thought we told each other everything."

"We do, but to tell you I would have had to tell everyone." Rose explained.

"Are you trying to say I can't keep a secret?" Becca was getting slightly louder now.

"You know that's not what I mean. It wouldn't have been fair to just tell you."

Now Becca wasn't even trying to pretend she was working, "Then why the hell did Olivia know?"

"Olivia found out by mistake, she realized there was some guy in my life and I didn't want to outright lie to her."

"Oh, like you were to the rest of us?" Becca was getting increasingly louder.

"Becca, just stop it." Rose snapped. "You would have done the same thing if you were dating a boy you knew _none_ of your friends would approve of!"

"What the hell are you talking about Rose? You know that I've always found Scorpius very attractive and I've dated Slytherins before! You think I wouldn't understand?"

Becca had a point. Rose had completely forgotten about that day on the train at the beginning of term when she found out she would be patrolling with Scorpius. But still, she couldn't just let Becca be angry with her like this, that wasn't fair.

"Look, it wasn't like I was never going to tell you. Scorpius and I are both so bad at relationships that we wanted to make sure our relationship was strong enough before telling everyone." Rose explained.

Becca remained silent for a few minutes and then whispered, "well, then when were you planning on telling us?"

"Probably on the last day of term. That's when we're telling my dad. If things got really bad, I was going to stay with George for a little while, until things cooled over."

"You really think it will be that bad?" asked Becca.

"Yeah, I do. He hates Slytherins and he especially hates the Malfoys." Rose was growing weary of giving the same explanation over, and over, and over again. But what else could she do?

Becca was silent again and then muttered, "I wish you would have told me." Her face look genuinely hurt and Rose felt a pang of guilt again.

"I'm so sorry, but you have to understand, I was terrified. I didn't know what was going to happen and I didn't want to spend all this time explaining to everyone if we were only going to last a month."

"But you said you loved him, was that true?" Becca didn't seem as cold to Rose anymore, she was hoping that maybe her friend would forgive her.

"Yes. I really really love him. I know that seems stupid, because I'm young, but I know that I love him and I know that I would be miserable without him." This all came out very quickly and Rose wondered if Becca had caught it all, but she nodded and seemed to be taking it all in.

"Rose, I hate being angry at you. I really do, after all that's happened. But I feel like I don't know you anymore." She said softly.

"But you do. You always have, I'm the same person. I just have a boyfriend now, that's all. Really, I promise, I'm the same girl." Rose sounded like she was pleading now, but she didn't care.

"Well, you've got a lot of 'I'm sorry"s and making up to do. But, I suppose if you tell me absolutely everything I can forgive you." A small smile was creeping onto Becca's face and Rose began to smile as well. The two girls went back to their work, but Rose's mind was still reeling. Mackenzie and Henry would probably be next. That might be easier, the two of them might take pity on her because she was in love. But she knew that Hugo wouldn't speak to her, and if he did he would only start yelling. Roxanne was a wild card- Rose had no idea how she would react. But she would talk to the other two later, first she was going to try and talk to Mackenzie and Henry.

The next class of their day was history of magic, so she stood no chance in trying to talk to either of them as she would be busy taking notes. In fact, she really didn't get a chance to speak to them until lunch.

The atmosphere was thick enough as it was, Hugo hadn't shown up yet and she and Scorpius kept exchanging glances from across the hall.

She purposefully sat herself besides Albus and Olivia but across from Mackenzie and Henry. As soon as she sat down, Mackenzie began pelting her with questions.

"A Slytherin Rose? Really? What was wrong with Ben that you had to dump him for Malfoy?" Mackenzie asked, her temper clearly flaring up.

"His name is Scorpius, and I wasn't happy with Ben. You should know that, you saw how I was with him." Rose quickly replied.

"And you didn't tell us? You told practically everyone else!" Mackenzie was becoming red in the face and Henry was simply not saying anything and avoiding her eyes.

"I didn't tell everyone else, Lily knew because she found me crying and Albus and Olivia only found out by accident! I didn't mean for it to happen this way at all, but it did and I'm sorry. But I'm not going to apologize for loving him. You guys are my friends; I shouldn't have to."

"Exactly. We're your friends and you should have told us. It's not such a great idea to go snogging a Slytherin behind your friends' backs Rose! Merlin, this isn't like you at all!"

Rose felt herself losing the fight, "Look, I didn't want to keep it a secret, but what choice did I have? We were both so afraid that you all would try to pull us apart before we even had a chance! We wanted this relationship to work so badly that we decided to wait and tell you until the end of term. If we'd survived that long, we thought we could survive your attempts to break us up."

"Maybe if you'd just been honest with us, we wouldn't have had to try and break you up! Maybe we would have just been happy for you." She replied.

"But are you?" Rose argued. "Are you happy for me?"

"You lied Rose. I thought we were better friends than that." Mackenzie said.

"We are, but you didn't answer my question. Are you happy for me? Are you happy that for once in my life I've found someone who I love and who loves me back?"

"We love you Rose. Me, Henry, Albus, Olivia, Becca, we all love you. And you knew that. But our love doesn't mean enough to you clearly."

"Mackenzie, you aren't being fair. I heard you in the common room that night after you were sneaking around with Henry. Don't lie and tell me that wasn't the exact same thing I was doing with Scorpius."

She had finally done it; Mackenize was backed into a corner. It was true that their relationship had been kept secret too.

"That wasn't as long. That was only a few weeks." Mackenzie began to argue but was interrupted.

"She's right." Henry said quietly.

"What?" Both girls replied.

"Rose is right. We did the exact same thing Kenzie, we can't deny that." Henry's face was still expressionless.

"So what? Henry, this is Scorpius Malfoy. You hate him." Mackenzie reminded him unnecessarily.

"I don't know. I mean yes, I hate the Slytherins. But quite honestly I don't think I've ever had any sort of bad encounter with him that I can remember. Not like Goyle and those idiots." Mackenzie looked shocked, she clearly wasn't expecting her boyfriend to disagree with her. Henry began to back-off and said, "I'm not saying you can't hate him, but I don't. And I'm happy for Rose, in a weird way." She saw him smiled briefly and then return to look at his girlfriend.

"I'm getting some air," she muttered and left the rest of them at the table alone. The group quietly continued to eat their food until Roxanne plopped into the spot where Mackenzie was sitting.

"Rose Weasley. How could you not tell me you were snogging Scorpius?" Roxanne demanded.

Rose could feel herself begin to turn the famous Weasley red, "I… I didn't want to tell a lot of people until I was sure the two of us would work out. And until I told Ron."

"Well, I'm assuming only one of those things happened." Roxanne said as she reached for her goblet.

"Yes, I was hoping to keep this all a secret until the end of the year, but that didn't happen either." Rose said, now feeling very at ease telling this to Roxanne.

"Understandable." Roxanne replied without any emotion.

"So… Are you…ok with this?" Rose asked slowly.

Roxanne's eyes looked up to the sky in thought. "I suppose. I mean, it would be pretty hilarious if you two get married and the Weasley's and the Malfoy's became related."

"Hilarious? Wouldn't you be furious? Draco would be your half uncle or something." Rose asked, completely shocked.

"No, he'd be my uncle-in-law, which everyone knows doesn't really count. He'd be _your_ father-in-law." She reminded her.

"Oh my god, I hadn't even thought of it that way before." Rose admitted. That's a little terrifying, being related to the boy who nearly killed her parents.

"Yes, well, it would be a very funny wedding. I mean, as long as you're happy Rose I don't really mind it. I talked to Albus earlier, and if he's everything Albus says he is, then I think it's great that you've found someone like that."

Rose began to smile, "I'm so glad you feel that way. Really, I am."

Roxanne smiled a bit too and nodded, "Well, I saw Mackenzie storming out of here a moment ago. I figured you could use some decent news."

"Yeah, she didn't take it as well as you are. I think she's pretty furious actually." Rose said somberly.

"She's probably still worried about you after what just happened. You have to remember Rose that we nearly lost you. Maybe she's worried that she might somehow lose you again. Fear makes people do strange things."

"How does she possibly think she will lose me?" Rose asked.

"How should I know? This is her strange thing." Roxanne replied and took a large sip of pumpkin juice.

Rose nodded her head in agreement and the group fell silent, each absorbed in their own thoughts. They went off to their afternoon classes and were headed back to the common room when Rose stopped Olivia.

"Tell the others that you know where I am and I am completely safe if they ask, ok?" Rose whispered.

"I would, except I don't know where you are about to go and I have no idea if you will be safe." Olivia reminded her.

"I'm going to find Scorpius. I really appreciate how kind everyone has been about all of this, but I can't face Mackenzie and Hugo right now. I'm exhausted. So, I'm going to go find Scorpius so that I'm safe and not alone." Rose said.

"What about tonight? When will you be back?" Olivia asked.

"I don't know. You'll see me at breakfast." Rose told her.

"Where will you go?" She asked.

"The room of requirement. I promise, I'll be fine." Rose tried to reassure her but Olivia still looked very nervous.

"I suppose there's nothing I can say to stop you." Olivia asked this as a question.

"No. I'll be ok, really." Rose said again.

"Ok…" Olivia said softly and Rose was off. She went to search for Scorpius, who was in the library looking for her. They caught each other's eyes at the same moment and she wanted nothing more then to go over and hold him in her arms because he looked so worried and yet so relieved to see her.

She motioned with her eyes for them to leave and Scorpius obliged, following her out of the library. "Hey," he whispered when they had turned a corner. "How are you?" he asked, worry etched in his face.

"I'm holding up. It's been a bit of a rough day back. Look, I know it's asking a lot, but would you skip dinner and go to the room of requirement with me? I just can't talk to everyone right now and I think we need to talk about what just happened." Rose said.

"Of course I'll go to the room of requirement with you Rose, you don't even need to ask," he gave her one of his signature smiles and Rose's fears seemed to melt a bit.

So Rose and Scorpius left the world of worries behind and entered their own little world.

**A lot happened in this chapter! I'm SURE you have opinions about some of it, all of it, a bit of it. So what should you do? Review! Thanks :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hello everyone! First off, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You all are wonderful and I cannot thank you enough :)**

**On a side note, today is my birthday, and I would absolutely love it if you guys would review this chapter. Really, your reviews are the best birthday present I could ask for!**

**Without further ado, enjoy :)**

Chapter 29

The room of requirement was becoming Rose's favorite room in the castle.

The room appeared to them as it had many times before, still looking quite like it did for their first date. Sensing their hunger, the room had laid out a beautiful candle lit dinner for the two of them and a large roaring fire with the couch.

The two sat down to dinner and began discussing the events of Rose's first day back. Rose expressed her concerns about Hugo and Mackenzie and Scorpius tried to comfort her the best he could. The two of them were a strange couple; Rose knew that. But for some reason they worked very well together. In some odd way, they were meant for each other.

Then Rose began to complain about her teachers not assigning her enough work and Scorpius actually began to laugh at her.

"Rose, are you serious? I would be thrilled if I were in your shoes. All you have to do is make up a few potion lessons and reread a chapter of our transfiguration textbook? It's crazy how lucky you are."

"Maybe to some people, but well… I'd love to get a perfect score on my N.E.W.T.'s." She admitted.

"A perfect score?" He asked, shocked.

"Don't act _so_ surprised." Rose replied, "You know I have silly goals like this."

"A perfect score? Has that ever been done?" Scorpius asked.

"My mother managed it on a couple of her examinations. I would love to do it too." She replied.

"Well, if anyone can do it, it's you. In fact, you'll probably get a perfect score on all of them."

"Well, you mean the ones I'm taking. Professor McGonagall wouldn't allow me a time turner, which I suppose is understandable. But still, I could have handled a few more classes." She said.

"You will work yourself to the bone when you get out of this school." He warned her.

"Not if you have anything to say about it," she added and gave him a smile. It felt strange going back into their old habits after what had happened to her. But she could tell that he was being careful around her, making sure she didn't hurt herself. Even with little things, like when they were studying after dinner with each other next to the fire. He wanted to get everything for her, even books that were practically in arms length.

"Scorpius, I'm fine." She insisted as she got up to get the book.

"I'm sure you are, but what if something happened to you on my watch? No, I'm playing it on the safe side." He countered and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not made of glass, I'll be fine." Rose replied and leaned into him as she got back on the couch. She continued to read her history of magic textbook and broke into a large yawn.

"Rose, what time is it? You need to get your sleep, I don't want you to get back to your dorm too late because of me." He said as he ran his fingers through her hair. She considered it for a minute, and yes she was exhausted. But going back to the common room sounded completely unappealing. She didn't want to face whatever was waiting for her. In fact, going back scared her more than she was willing to admit.

"What if…" she began to say but interrupted herself. "No, that's stupid" She mumbled.

"What," he asked as she turned her head to look at him.

"Well, what if I just stayed here? I can't stand the thought of facing my dorm with Mackenzie right now. I know that's selfish, but I can't." She said as she closed her eyes to hold back any tears that might accidentally come out. Lately, she felt like she was crying more than she should be, but she couldn't seem to stop it.

"Rose, that's not safe. I can't let you stay here all night by yourself." Scorpius said softly.

Rose bit her lip in thought. "What if you stayed here with me?" Rose whispered in his ear, as if it was a secret.

"Rose…" he began.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I'm sorry, it was a silly suggestion, just forget it. I can't force you to stay here with me; I'm just being needy. It's fine." She could feel herself beginning to blush again.

"Rose, don't be ridiculous. Of course I want to stay with you but…"

"But?" She interrupted.

"But," he continued. "Are you sure you want me to stay with you?" Now she realized what Scorpius meant, this was new ground for the two of them. Completely innocent of course, but still.

"Of course." She countered, realizing just how close his face was to hers. The two of them closed the gap between their lips and met halfway in a soft, sweet kiss. Scorpius was still being careful with her, Rose could tell. But she didn't mind because he was pouring emotions into the kiss that hadn't been there before. Emotions left over from almost loosing her to his greatest fear.

As the two of them kissed in perfect harmony, a bed appeared for the two of them. When they finally broke apart the two of them realized it had shown up, and a few moments of awkward hesitation surfaced between them. That is, until they burst out laughing at practically the same moment. This is what she loved so much about Scorpius: that they could be so honest around each other that nothing was awkward.

"Well, the room is a bit presumptuous now isn't it?" Scorpius said through his laughter.

"Well, I guess it beats sleeping on the couch." Rose said.

"Yeah, that's true." He agreed. Scorpius took off his shoes and his socks, so Rose followed suit, not really sure where to go from here. If the room had provided pajamas that would have been lovely, but Rose didn't see any in sight. She decided to wear the shorts that she wore underneath her school skirt and her white button down shirt, which she could get the wrinkles out of tomorrow morning. Scorpius was dressed similarly, although he took off his button down so his chest was exposed. Although Rose didn't think it was fair to distract her with his attractiveness, she wasn't complaining. The two of them settled in underneath the covers and Scorpius wrapped his arms around Rose and held her close to him.

"I was so terrified Rose. God, I thought I'd never be able to hold you like this again." He confessed to her.

"Scorp, I'm always going to be here. You didn't think I could leave you, did you?"

"I didn't think you'd have much of a choice. Did you mean what you said back in the hospital, about you thinking of me during the cruciatus curse?" He asked her in that beautiful half-whispering voice he had.

"Yes. Every word. You were my happy memory, I had to think of you or I knew I wouldn't make it." She told him and felt herself blushing furiously.

But Scorpius cupped her face in his hand and turned her head before giving her a much more passionate kiss. She let the shivers up her spine take over her and she kissed him back just as feverishly, her hands trailing up his bare chest. They had kissed like this before, but this was different. Both of them knew it and Rose wasn't afraid at all. She sighed at his hands underneath her shirt on her bare back, the touch of his skin against hers still gave her tingles she couldn't even describe. She wanted to stay kissing him, but eventually their lips parted.

"You're the first person to ever love me Rose." He admitted as he pulled away. "And I love loving you." He whispered in her ear. In that moment, she forgot everything. All she remembered was Scorpius and how she could never be the same after meeting him. She pulled him back into a kiss and forgot the world.

"Where the hell is she?" Becca whispered to Olivia. "I know you said you knew she was safe, but this is boarding on ridiculous. It's after ten and she's not back yet."

"I know you guys are worried, but I swear she's fine." Olivia told them.

"We're worried, can you please just tell us where she is?" Albus asked. He was sitting between Olivia and Henry, as Mackenzie had gone up to bed after dinner and had not come back all night.

"I can't, you guys might be kind of angry." She replied.

"That's not really reassuring." Henry said. "Did she specifically tell you not to tell anyone where she went?" He asked.

"She told me to tell you all that she was fine and you would definitely see her by morning, maybe even earlier." Olivia repeated the message to the group. "But I had to draw out of her where she was going, so I don't think she really wanted me to tell you in fear that you went looking for her."

"Again, not comforting." Henry said.

"Olivia, we won't go looking for her. We promise." Albus said.

Olivia stared into the fire and contemplated her next move. Finally, she just said it.

"She's in the room of requirement." That statement came out very quickly.

"What? Why?" Becca asked.

"Look, I told you guys where she was. Isn't that enough?" Olivia sighed and gave them all a desperate look. Oddly enough, no one seemed to guess what she was doing except for Henry.

"No. No no no no no, Olivia, you did not sign off on that." Henry began as he stood up from his chair.

"Sign off on what?" Becca asked.

"Olivia?" Henry demanded and it was clear now that he was not messing around: he knew exactly why she left.

"Henry, you promised you wouldn't try to go find her." Olivia reminded him.

"Technically Albus said it, not me." He countered.

"Will someone please fill us in on what the two of you know!" Albus exclaimed. Henry turned to him, looking very bewildered.

"She's with him, spending the night with him in the room of requirement." Henry told Becca and Albus.

"No!" Becca said, clearly surprised. She arched an eyebrow at Olivia in conformation, and she simply nodded her head slowly in reply. Becca smirked and leaned back in her chair, "Well, I guess we all know what they're doing."

"We don't." Replied Albus. "It's probably innocent, I saw him after Rose was hurt and he was very…concerned is an understatement. I doubt he would try that with her, not now. Not after he almost lost her."

"Why the hell do you have so much faith in him?" asked Henry. "Quite frankly I don't like the idea of them together doing merlin-knows-what in the room of requirement!"

"Maybe you don't, but it's not your problem Henry. It's not your relationship. And I think you are all forgetting that it's _Rose_ we're talking about. She's not exactly the type to be stupid and reckless like that. I'm sure Albus is right, it's completely innocent." Olivia argued.

Henry raised his eyebrows as if to agree with her and then took his seat again. "This is just still strange to me."

"Them together?" Becca asked.

"Yeah." He said softly.

A silence passed between them as each was wrapped up in their own thoughts before Olivia asked, "Did you talk to Hugo?"

"No," Albus replied. "I tried, but he ran away from me. I haven't seen him all day, but I heard he went to classes. But then again, I don't have the cloak anymore. So he's probably running around with that."

"Rose has it." Olivia told him, "I saw her with it earlier."

"Then I guess he's just hiding out in his dorm then. Merlin, I'm worried about him." Albus said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"I am too." Olivia murmured. "How about Mackenzie?" Olivia asked Henry.

"We haven't really been speaking. I tried to talk to her after lunch, but she refused to look at me. Honestly, I was shocked. But she gets like this sometimes, she has a temper." He concluded.

"Yes, well we've all seen that. But it's just flaring up at a very bad moment." Becca said.

They all made some noise of agreement and then silence broke out again. They were each caught up in their own thoughts and concerns about the day, but they were beginning to feel how late at night it really was. Eventually, they bid their goodbyes and went up to go to sleep, not able to shake the feeling that Rose was still gone from them.

It's felt like she would never really come back again.

**Review? :)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Good evening everyone! First of all, I am SO sorry about the fact this chapter is a day late, my wireless went down with a particularly bad storm and it was just repaired. Anyway, I bring to you chapter 30 (cheers for milestones!) **

**Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter (and thank you for the birthday wishes!). It really meant so much to me, and I cannot thank you enough!**

**On that note, Enjoy :)**

Chapter 30

"Good morning," Scorpius half-whispered as Rose began to stir in his arms.

"Good morning to you too." She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked him.

"We have a little time before we have to be down for breakfast, about 20 minutes." He told her and proceeded to hold her closer in his arms, clearly making no efforts to get up.

"I like waking up next to you," Rose said without thinking and then began to blush furiously. He pulled her a little closer again and whispered, "I do too" in her ear. Her head was resting against his chest and he pulled her face up softly to meet his and stole a kiss.

But she pulled back, "Don't kiss me, I probably have morning breath. That's disgusting." She laughed and he smirked at her. He began to kiss the hollow under her ear, where he knew she was more sensitive. The shiver that frequently ran up her spine over took her whole body now, and she could feel herself holding onto his shoulders for a strange kind of balance. Her breathing was hitched as he trailed kisses down her neck, finding all the right places for his lips. It was becoming less of him teasing her and more of a passionate moment between the two of them. Finally, Rose lifted his head and captured his lips with hers. She kissed him frantically, her eyes fluttering with pure delight. The two of them were deepening the kiss, each one of them fighting for the control of it but neither one of them minding when they lost it. Rose wasn't really sure how it happened, their bodies seemed to act of their own accord, but somehow Scorpius ended up on top of her while they kissed. His muscles were even more taunt as he held himself up above her and she traced patterns in them as she kissed him. A soft moan released from her lips and she would have been extremely embarrassed if it wasn't the fact that Scorpius had just done the same. The two of them were now closing any gaps between them, both of them longing to be as close as possible to each other. When they finally broke apart it was only because they had no more breath in them. Rose leaned back against the pillow panting and blushing furiously while Scorpius smiled back at her, equally red in the face. It was clear that they're relationship was becoming more…passionate than before. Rose found herself wanting Scorpius in new ways and she was nervous but excited about the strange thoughts she had been having of late.

"We should get ready to go down for breakfast. It wouldn't look good if we came down together like this." He told her with a huge smile plastered to his face.

"I suppose your right." Rose said as she began to collect herself. The two got out of bed and began straightening out their clothing. Rose was able to knock all of the wrinkles out with a simple spell she had learned from her mother, but her hair was another story.

"Oh dear merlin…" Rose mumbled as she looked at a mirror. "This looks awful." Her curls were very messy; it looked as if she had rolled around on the floor all night. Normally, they were fairly easy to comb through with her fingers but today they were extremely tangled. Rose began to search through the drawers of the nightstand for a hairbrush and found not only a hairbrush, but also pajamas and toothbrushes that they could have used last night. Typical.

She began to work out the huge knots in her hair and was pretty successful. It looked 60% less scary than it had ten minutes ago, and Scorpius was looking back to normal as well. The two of them sneaked out of the room of requirement and headed down to the great hall, mischievous smiles on their lips. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips in an abandoned corridor before heading down a separate way, as to not cause suspicion.

When Rose walked into the great hall, however, she was met with some very distressed looking faces. "Rose!" Becca exclaimed as she sat down. "Where were you last night?"

Rose wasn't really sure how to respond but she tried anyway, "I was in the room of requirement. I was a bit afraid to face Mackenzie, to be honest."

"I heard you were with Scorpius." Albus said and Olivia kicked him under the table.

"I'm sorry Rose, but they threatened to go looking for you if I didn't tell them." Olivia said pleadingly.

"It's fine, they were going to find out eventually." She said as she ate some scrambled eggs, still smiling.

"Rose… what exactly were you and Scorpius doing last night?" Albus asked.

"Nothing," she mumbled and blushed bright red.

"Really? Because you two alone all night is more than suspicious." He told her and didn't stop looking at her while he sipped his pumpkin juice.

"Honestly, nothing happened. I just asked him to spend the night with me so I wouldn't be alone." Albus raised an eyebrow at her and she became even redder. "Nothing like that! Look Al, I know you're just looking out for me, but I swear nothing happened. It was completely innocent."

"Fine fine," he let it drop and dove into his breakfast. The rest of them talked about course work and other things until Mackenzie and Henry came down from the common room. It was clear that the two of them had been fighting, but it wasn't clear as to why. However, Rose received a cold glare from Mackenzie that made her sure that their fight from yesterday was far from over.

And oh was she right.

To Mackenzie's credit, she kept quiet for most of the day. Even through dinner she managed to remain civil. But back in the common room, she started the fight back up again at her first opportunity.

The group was settled in around the fire when Rose walked through the portrait hole. Mackenzie looked up, "Oh I see you've decided to stay here tonight. Or would you rather go off and shag your boyfriend just to betray us even more." Her tone was cold and her glare piercing, and Rose was tired of taking her dirty looks.

"First of all, I wasn't shagging anyone last night which you would know if you had talked to me at all today! And I don't think I betrayed you in the first place by loving someone who wasn't in our friend circle! Dear god, I finally found someone who I love and you can't bother to accept it because you're too afraid about what it might mean." She was whisper yelling so that she was not overheard in the common room, as many other Gryffindors were milling about.

"You're right Rose. I'm afraid. I'm afraid because you've changed and I don't know who my best friend is anymore! Keeping secrets, lying, running around behind my back! I find it hard to be happy when I tell you everything and you've been sneaking around for months!" Mackenzie was not so concerned with her volume level and Rose was worried she was going to attract attention.

"There is nothing else I can do Mackenzie. I have already apologized for all of that, but what do you want me to do? Break up with him? Because that's not going to happen and you know it." Rose told her.

"I know that's not going to happen. But god Rose, it's hard for me to be happy for you right now. I think I just need some space. Easter break is coming up next week, I think we need some time apart." Mackenzie said.

"I don't want to leave for break knowing you're still mad at me." Rose said point blank. Mackenzie let the hurt show on her face and Rose began to feel her pain. The pain of almost loosing her friend.

"I just can't stand the thought of loosing you Rose." She told her and sat back down in her chair. "I don't even care that much that it's Scorpius, but I almost lost you once. I can't stand the idea of you lying to me, it makes me feel like we aren't friends."

"But we are Kenzie. Hell, I haven't even told my parents yet and that's not because I don't love them. It's because I'm scared out of my mind about their reactions. And I don't want to hurt them." Rose felt some of the tension slip away and she began to have a real conversation with Mackenzie.

"Well, I don't know how I'm going to have to get used to this." She said as she leaned back into the chair. "I mean, you and Scorpius. I never would have put you to together."

"Wait!" Becca interrupted. "You promised to give us the full story. Every little detail of what happened."

"Um, I don't know if I want to divulge every detail…"

"Yeah, she really doesn't have to tell us everything…" Albus agreed while Becca glared at him. "What? She's practically my sister, I don't want to hear about what they do when they're alone!"

So Rose gave the modified version of what had happened, how they met each other during patrols and slowly fell in love. How they realized they were perfect for each other and how they knew that they would eventually have to tell everyone. She even told them about the time Scorpius snuck into her room at the burrow, because Becca wanted more details. But that story was quickly ended after Albus looked like her was ready to vomit. However, after stories were shared and friendships patched over, she knew she needed to find Hugo. She asked Albus to come with her so that she would have some help if he got furious, and the two of them walked up to his dormitory.

"Hugo?" Albus asked as he knocked on the door. There was no response, but he pushed the door open anyway. Sure enough, there was Hugo doing his homework on his bed.

"You both shouldn't be in here. It's against school rules for the girls to be in the boy's dorms." Hugo said without looking up.

"Hugo, I'm you sister. I'm pretty sure that rule doesn't really apply here." Rose said, trying not to sound upset.

"Rose, you are the last person I want to talk to right now. Goodbye." He said harshly and kept his eyes focused on his work.

"Hugo you have to talk to me." Rose pleaded.

"Why?"

Rose sighed, "Because we have to talk about what happened in the hospital wing. We just have to Hu."

"I'm not going to talk to you after what you did." He said.

"Then tell me why you are angry with me?" She said as she sat down on the bed next to him.

"Why am I angry?" He asked and his head finally snapped up. "Why am I angry? I have SO many reasons to be angry with you Rose! I come in after seeing you nearly die only a week ago to find you lying in bed with Scorpius Malfoy! The son of the man who watched as our mother was practically tortured to death!" He was shouting now, and Rose wondered if the floor below could hear him.

"Hugo, he's nothing like his father, please hear me out." Rose insisted as he became furious.

"Why should I? I can't believe you were that stupid Rose; you were always the smart one. Yet you go snogging Scorpius Malfoy for merlin's sake!"

"Hugo we're in love." Rose told him. "Please, try to understand. I didn't intend on falling in love with him, but we became very close during our patrols. He resents his father and everything his family stands for. He's nothing like them at all. He's a wonderful person Hugo and you would really like him if you gave him a chance."

"It's true Hugo. I hated the idea too at first, but he's a pretty good guy." Albus added.

"You. How long have you known?" Hugo asked Albus.

"A while. I was looking after her Hugo, you don't have to worry." Rose rolled her eyes at this, like she really needed to be taken care of by her relatives.

"Well, clearly you didn't do a very good job as she almost died under your watch!" Hugo yelled again and tears began to spring from his eyes. "I just can't believe… I can't believe this happened."

"Hugo, I'm sorry. But if you would just talk to him you would understand." She said softly. "I'll leave you alone now, but I wanted you to know I had a reason. I hope you'll give him a chance Hu, I really do."

With that she left his room and Albus followed, allowing Hugo the time and space he needed.

About four days later, Hugo came up to Rose in the common room.

"I want to meet him." Hugo said with no apparent emotion.

"Want to meet who?" Rose asked, caught off guard.

"I want to meet Scorpius." He announced to her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Rose asked, incredulous.

"You said I should just meet him and I would understand. So, I want to meet him." He had a defiant look on his face that made Rose concerned.

"Um, well, I suppose you could meet him before patrol on Monday. That would be fine." Rose suggested, still shocked.

"Alright, that sounds reasonable." He replied and then promptly left. Rose sat there slightly puzzled, but went back to her work. Although he teachers wouldn't formally give her the work she had missed, she was able to talk Albus in showing her what he had done since she had been in the infirmary. So, she was going over his notes when Hugo had come up to her and startled her. What was going on with that boy? Was he still angry?

Probably, Rose guessed. She would have to find out on Monday.

"I'm, so we meet for patrol in front of one of the charms classrooms. You can walk with me there." Rose told him.

"Alright." He said and the two of them walked together in silence. It was more than awkward; it was almost unbearable. She was waiting for him to make the first move, but he remained silent and Rose wondered if it was better that way.

They approached Scorpius waiting for them and Hugo's eyes began to narrow. Rose was beginning to worry this wasn't a good idea, what if they started fighting each other? As crazy as that idea sounded Rose could definitely see it happening. Scorpius held out his hand to shake Hugo's, but Hugo crossed his arms instead.

"Why are you dating my sister?" He asked before even saying hello.

"Because I love her." He said simply.

"Anyone could say that." His eyes continued to narrow. "I could say that about you, it doesn't mean it's true."

"But, it is true Hu, we're in love. I know it's hard to understand that I can love someone who you've always thought of as an enemy, but it's true." Rose told him.

"I don't see how you two could ever love each other." He said, "I think you're just trying to break her heart."

"He could have done that a long time ago Hugo." Rose answered quietly. "We've been in love for a while."

"Whose idea was it to keep the relationship a secret?" Hugo asked. Rose actually had to think about the answer for a while, who started this anyway? She remembered back to that night on the astronomy tower and looked at Scorpius questioningly.

"I think it was me," Scorpius told Hugo.

He rolled his eyes, "Because that's not suspicious".

"He did that because I was scared Hu. I was scared of people acting like you are right now." Rose gave him that older sister look she had never really perfected.

"I never said I'm completely against it, I just want to ask my own questions." He said and turned to face Scorpius again, "What's your plan for telling Ron?"

"We haven't figured that out yet." Scorpius answered. "We are going to tell him at the end of the year, so that we can tell him in person."

"So that _I _can tell him in person." Rose interrupted. "You're not coming with me Scorp, we've talked about this."

"Rose, I'm not going to let you go to him alone. What kind of boyfriend would that make me?" He asked her.

"If you go, he might actually try to attack you. And trust me, he could easily murder you." Rose told him.

"Rose, he's not going to murder me. They don't tell you to murder your daughter's boyfriends in auror training." He said.

"Trust me, I wouldn't put anything into the 'impossible' category. This is his only daughter dating his worst enemy's son. I have no idea what he'll do." Rose explained.

"Rose, I have to be there with you. I don't want you going there alone." They had forgotten Hugo was there and he watched this exchange.

"Use the invisibility cloak." Hugo interrupted. "That way you're technically there but Ron can't see you and therefore won't be able to attack you." He said as if it were the obvious solution.

"I could agree to that." Scorpius said while he turned to Rose to get her approval.

"Fine. As long as you don't try and be noble and take it off. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you." Rose said with a bit of blush in her cheeks.

"I'll do exactly as you ask, I promise." He said to her and turned back to Hugo. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

"Do realize that Rose has more strong male relatives than she can count? And that if you break her heart we will break you?" Hugo tried to sound as intimidating as he possibly could and Rose could feel a smile tugging on her lips.

"Yes, don't worry. I won't break her heart Hugo." Scorpius said, miraculously keeping a straight face.

"Then, I'm somewhat not repulsed by this relationship. For now." Hugo added quickly, to try and remain tough looking.

"Alright Hu, I'm glad. But go back the common room now so we don't have to give you a detention for being out late." Rose told him.

"You wouldn't dare," he said with a smile and she raised an eyebrow before he turned to go. He went off down the corridor and Rose turned to Scorpius.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Always," he said with his signature smirk.

**Review? Pretty please?**


	31. Chapter 31

**Hello everyone! First, let me apologize for not having this chapter up sooner. I am a week later posting than I should be, but I'm sadly had a lot of other very unexpected things that happened to me in the course of the last two weeks and this story had to fall to the bottom of the to do list. Again, I truly am sorry.**

**Thank you though, to all of my wonderful reivewers! Your comments really mean so much to me and they keep me writing this story :) **

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 31

Easter break was coming faster than Rose had expected it to, and before she knew it she was throwing things in her trunk and attempting to find her missing things. The girls were all rushing around their dormitory in last minute preparations for the train that was leaving that afternoon.

"Mackenzie, did you borrow my red scarf? You know, the one I wear for some of the quidditch games?" Rose asked.

"Nope, not me. Have you seen Olivia?" Mackenzie asked as she threw a quidditch glove into her bag.

"I saw her a while ago, but I think she went off looking for something." Becca answered.

"Or someone," Rose added. "She's probably off with my cousin, as usual." The group nodded in agreement and went back to searching under their beds and taking things out of drawers.

"Why are you taking that home?" Rose asked Becca when she saw her empty an entire drawer into her trunk.

"Because, it's quidditch gear to wear over the break." She said as if this was completely obvious.

"You're bringing that much stuff home for quidditch? It's not that long a break!" Rose exclaimed.

"When you practice as much as I do, it is." Becca told her as she threw her red scarf at her face. "It was on the hook next to the door."

The three of them continued on with their packing until Olivia walked through the front door.

"Where have you been?" Becca asked with a smirk.

"Oh no where particular, just gathering up some things." Olivia answered nonchalantly.

"Oh really? Then why did you come back empty handed with your sweater on backwards?" Mackenzie asked now wearing a smirk as well.

"I must have put it on this way when I left…" she tried to fix her story but her cheeks were turning red.

"Uh huh, and where might my git cousin be?" Rose asked her, enjoying not being in the center of the relationship attention for once.

"Dunno…" she muttered and then began frantically packing. The girls burst into a friendly laughter and Olivia's cheek's went redder.

"Look, whatever you were doing with my cousin is fine, but I want to know nothing!" Rose told her as another fit of giggles broke out.

"Alright alright, just leave it!" Olivia begged and continued with her quick packing.

Rose finished stuffing the last few things into her trunk about an hour later and used that precious time to go find Scorpius. She had a feeling he was already packed, so she started to wander the halls until she ran into him. She checked the library, wasn't there. Checked the great hall, wasn't there. Checked the astronomy tower, wasn't there. Finally, she glanced out from a window and saw Scorpius under one of the large trees surrounded by fresh spring grass. She walked outside and caught his eye so that he would follow her without looking suspicious. She wandered off away from the castle so that no one could see her and ended up over by the lake, a location she just loved to spend time at. She sat down on the rocks and waited for Scorpius to join her, and when he did she settled against his chest.

"I love coming here. It used to remind me of the pond near the burrow. Much much larger of course, but I loved that pond when I was little. Now the sounds of the little waves are very calming to me." She explained to him and looked up into his eyes for a reaction.

He kissed her lips softly, "I can't wait to see everywhere you grew up. I can't wait to know everything about you."

"Stop, your making me blush," she said and her cheeks flushed.

"That's too bad, because I love making you blush." He said and kissed her again, but took his time before pulling away.

Rose was left wanting more, a feeling that Scorpius was most certainly intending her to have.

"Damn you," she said as she captured his lips and kissed them passionately but tenderly, enjoying the sweet moment between them. The pair ignored the fact that they could be walked in on at any moment, or that it the ground was still hard and cold. They only we wrapped up in each other and focused on the emotions soaring through them and the feeling of their lips touching. Rose eventually had to pull back because she had run out of air, and she and Scorpius laid back against the shelly ground while they caught their breath.

"How am I possibly going to spend the entire break without you?" Scorpius asked softly, as if talking to himself.

"We'll manage I suppose." Rose said glumly because she didn't want to leave for home at all.

But none-the-less, the train would be leaving in an hour and so the two said their goodbyes and went up to get their things. Rose road in the carriages to the train with her friends and enjoyed it, but wished that she hadn't had to say goodbye to Scorpius so soon. For her, break was going to be torture.

But soon, they were all sitting in a compartment on the train sharing stories and flavors or Bertie Bott's beans.

"No no, that's not even close to what happened." Olivia interrupted Mackenzie's story. "It was last year and Albus wanted me to meet his parents over Spring Vacation. So, I flooed into his house at what I thought was the right time. But, when I got there the entire house was empty, so I started looking around for Albus. Turns out that Albus wasn't even there at all, he and his parents were out shopping for quidditch supplies with Lily, so I spent the entire afternoon with James instead. And, in the process of our conversation, he discovered that I couldn't fly very well. So he stuck me on a broom and of course I fell off. And that was how I had the broken arm when Albus came home." Olivia explained as she munched on a chocolate frog.

"Really?" Henry asked. "Because Al told me a very different story when you came back in a sling."

"Drop it, "Albus said in a warning tone.

"Wait no, don't drop it!" Mackenzie told Henry. "What was his story?"

Henry wore a mischievous grin, "Well…"

"Henry, don't." Albus tried to stop him again, but it was clear that it was now out of his hands.

"Albus said that when his parents walked out of the room, he spun Olivia around and leaned down to kiss her, but in the process her arm whacked so hard into the wall that she broke it. He claimed he 'didn't realize how strong he was'." The group was silent for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Rose's eye began to water and she leaned again Becca as they giggled together.

"That never happened!" Albus said reddening, "He's lying!"

"Is he Al? Is he _really_?" Mackenzie asked as she wiped the tears off her face.

"Yes! Of course he is!" Albus insisted. "Lets just change topics, alright?"

"No way!" Becca protested. "Your girlfriend broke her arm and you tried to turn it into some 'feat of strength' story? Al, that's awful!" Mackenzie told him while trying to contain her giggles.

"It also didn't actually happen. And besides, at least I don't change my snogging partners every couple of weeks." He said as he stared pointedly at Becca.

"What can I say? You've got to kiss a couple of frogs before you find your prince." She winked at Rose. "And there haven't been _that_ many." She protested.

"Do you remember that one Hufflepuff last year?" Henry said. "You know, the one you brought to one of the quidditch parties who had the intellectual capabilities as a blast-ended shrewt?"

"How could we ever forget him!" Rose said. "He asked me if my mother's name was flower."

"He might not have been the brightest, but he was extremely attractive." Becca pointed out. Unfortunately, the girls had to agree with that, as annoying as he was.

"Still, I don't see how you could have possibly dated him. He was awful, I couldn't stand him for five minutes." Mackenzie told her.

"Eh, it wasn't really dating per se." Replied Becca and the compartment burst into giggles again. They continued to share stories all the way to King Cross Station, and it helped Rose pass the time.

Stepping out of the train, Rose was surrounded by yelling families and waving parents. Everyone around her was reuniting as she searched for her parents, but Hugo caught her arm as he ran to them.

"Dad dad! I got an outstanding on my potions essay!" Hugo yelled to his father.

"That's wonderful Hu, I always said it was good you had half your mother's genes." Ron told him and ruffled his hair. "Ah, there's Rose" he said before wrapping her in a hug. "How have you been holding up?

"I've been great Dad, really. And if only mum hadn't gone to all of my teachers and told them not to overload me…" Rose began and her mother interrupted.

"I did no such thing!" She said as she pretended to look shocked and then broke down into laughter. "I may have discussed a few things with a couple of your professors, but really it was nothing."

Rose rolled her eyes and the group headed out of the station with the Potter's. Apparently they were all going to try and squeeze into Mr. Potter's "modified" car and go to the Weasley's for dinner before the Potter's drove home.

Rose loved her house, she really did. It was near the burrow, on the outer edges of the Ottery St. Catchpole village. Originally Ron and Hermione had a lovely flat in London, but after Rose was born they decided they did want her to grow up in the city. After talking about it a great deal, they realized they were trying to find a place that was exactly like where Ron had grown up, so they found a house closer to the village and bought it on the spot. Rose was positive that it was meant to be because it was the perfect house for them.

The house itself was made entirely out of stone, making it look slightly storybook-esque. It had green moss growing up the side and a large, lush yard all around it. Hermione had her garden for magical herbs that was just visible from the front of the house on the right side. There was a large tree that bent over as if bowing to the person who was walking up the drive. On the tree hung a muggle contraption that Hermione had growing up called a tree swing. Ron didn't understand the appeal until Hermione made him install one. He still preferred flying, but the tree swing was very restful all the same. Wildflowers were beginning to show up, which was a clear sign of spring. Ron levitated Rose's trunk into the house and up the stairs for her so that she could unpack her things. Rose began taking out her heavy winter sweaters that she wouldn't need at school anymore when Lily came in.

"Hullo Rose." Lily said as she plopped onto Rose's bed. "I liked what you've done with your room, I don't think I've been here for a while."

Rose had redecorated her room a bit to clear up some space, originally she had so many books that her bookcases were blocking her windows and it was becoming very gloomy. So, after sorting through every book she had ever owned (a process that was both tedious and very painful for Rose), she had cleared out some of the clutter. After that project, she decided to just change the entire thing. It now had light, creamy yellow walls that seemed to glow when the sun shined on them. She now had shorter bookcases on every wall except the wall her bed was pressed up against. She used the tops of the bookcases as a very long wrap around counter space for her room, so various pictures and candy jars sat on top of them. On the far wall she had large window doors that opened up onto a little balcony where Rose could watch the stars and do her astronomy homework, or read outside on summer nights. The doors were surrounded by soft, flowing cream curtains that were also hung by all of the windows. Her bed had a light lavender comforter on it and tons of mismatching pillows in various shades of lavender as well. She had two dressers on either side of her bed and on top of them were even more books, most of them from last summer. Rose loved how bright and airy her room felt now; it was very peaceful to come back here.

"It took some work, but I like it. It's better than my old room." Rose said rolling her eyes.

"Your old room was a mess. Trying to find a place to step around all of the books on the floor? And you had the balcony entrance and your closet blocked by the piles of books. It was shocking you managed to function." Lily told her.

"Yeah well, it was getting a tad ridiculous." Rose said as she continued unpacking her things. "It feels good to be home, after what happened. It feels safer here than it did at Hogwarts."

"I know what you mean," Lily murmured in agreement. "It fades away Rose, I promise. It just takes time for the shock of it all to wear off."

"I know it does, but I only have one more year left there. I just don't want it to be tainted by this." Rose confessed.

"Then don't make it that way. Try to see the cauldron half full; Goyle got expelled. Your much safer now."

"Yeah, but the rest of them. They're still there. They probably share a room with my boyfriend. The thought of how close they truly are to me is sickening. I just wish we had been able to catch all of them."

"I know. I do too." Lily said before hopping off her bed. "I heard mum say that dinner was starting soon, so why don't we play a game of chess downstairs before hand? That could be fun."

"Yeah, sure" Rose said because she saw Lily was trying to cheer her up. She followed Lily down the stairs and to the living room where Ron had a very prominently displayed chess set. Hermione said that it was Ron's first this-makes-no-sense-because-it's-so-expensive purchase. After having so little money as a kid, Ron wasn't used to having a good paying job and people who wanted to give him free stuff. After the war, tons of companies wanted 'the trio' to endorse their product. Most of the offers they refused, but Ron did pick this particular chess set company because they would send him free chess sets if he said they were the only sets he would play. So, he got a new chess set every year that was worth a ridiculous amount of money that he would put on display in the living room. Rose had learned everything about chess from her father, as it was the one thing he was much better at than her mother. Well, that and quidditch. But Rose showed absolutely no interest in that whatsoever. Harry and Ginny weren't bad, in fact, Ginny had beaten Ron once or twice (those weren't good nights) but Lily was no match to Rose. The mix of her mother's intelligence and her father's chess skills was completely unparalleled. Rose even beat Ron now, which he was so proud with her for that he didn't care.

The pair of them played a few rounds of chess (as Rose won rather quickly) until dinner was ready. Albus and Hugo came in from playing chess and the two families (minus James, who was in Auror training right now and couldn't come) sat down to dinner. The conversation flowed easily and Rose found herself successfully forgetting about Scorpius for a while. It was comforting being back home and she missed her parents more than she thought she would have. It was also nice talking to Lily again; it had been a while since they had been able to spend any time with just the two of them.

Rose stayed up listening to Harry and Ron's stories of Hogwarts, as they had come to tell more and more of them nowdays. The two families sat around a fire listening to the story of when Harry used Felix Felicies to persuade Professor Slughorn to give them a memory. From time to time Hermione would interrupt, reminding them of details they clearly chose to leave out and the story would continue again. Rose hadn't fallen asleep by the fire for a very long time, but as the story was ending she felt her eyelids get heavy and her vision began to blur. Before she knew it, she was asleep and lost in her dreams.

**Alright everyone, I have a favor to ask of you. I'm having a tad bit of writers block and I'm not really sure where I should take this story next. I'm obviously writing about Easter Break for the next two chapters, and then the quidditch match after that, but I'm not sure what to write in between the two. Do you all have any suggestions/things (or people) you would like to see in this story? Any inspiration is greatly appreciated! **


	32. Chapter 32

**Hello! I'm going to apologize in advance for this long authors note, but I feel it had to be done because, well, I have a lot of apologizing to do.  
First, I am so so so so so sorry for the huge wait for an update. It's inexcusable and I really couldn't feel worse about it. I've had a lot of problems this past month, academic problems, personal problems, and far more stress that I should have had. Because of that, this story had to fall to the bottom of the list. It's not fair and I feel horrible about it, but it was that or me failing exams and neglecting many other very important things. Seriously, this past month has been hell. But one thing kept me though it. What would that be you ask?**

**YOU GUYS! Your wonderful and extremely kind reviews. Really, I can't even express how lucky I am that I have you all as reviewers, you are so good to me. Your ideas for chapters and themes got me out of my writers block (yay, thank you!) and they were amazing ideas. Seriously, you all are so creative. However, one thing about your reviews/private messages made me furious. Fanfiction won't allow me to reply to any of them. Which is killing me, because I really really really really really want to reply to your comment/suggestions/and ideas and tell you how witty/wonderful/insightful/helpful/and great they are! But alas, I can't. So, readers that are much better with fanfiction than I am, how can I fix this problem? Because I miss being able to talk to you all.**

**One last thing, and then I promise I'll stop talking (but, this isn't hugely important, so feel free to skip over it). A lot of you wanted to have me break the news to Ron/Hermione/Draco/Astoria in the next chapter or two. I just want to set a timeline thing straight so that I'm not letting anyone down: Scorpius and Rose are planning on telling the parents once they leave Hogwarts for the summer (aka- the end of their 6th year). Seeing as it is only Easter Break, there is still some time to go. However, I promise it is coming soon! In the meantime, there will be many other interesting story lines that will take up the end of the year. I think/hope you guys will like it. **

**Alright, I'm finally done. Enjoy :)**

Chapter 32

Rose wasn't really sure what to with her time now that she was alone. Her mother was at work, or at court really because she worked for that department of magical law enforcement. Her mum was sadly pulled in to a very large court case that was taking place over the break, so Rose wasn't going to see as much of her as she had hoped. Her father worked as an Auror with her uncle Harry, but he also helped George run the shop, so he was a very busy guy. He practically referred to himself as a part time Auror and a part time shopkeeper because he couldn't do either job fully.

And then that morning there was a crisis with the Diagon Alley location of WWW, something about a new product that accidently became translucent and so now no one can find them. Either way, he had to go in and help George.

Even Hugo had plans; he was off with one of his mates going to see a muggle movie, as his friend was muggle born. Rose hadn't seen a muggle movie in a theater since her mum had taken her a few years ago.

Rose had already finished all of her Easter Break homework and had practically nothing to do in her empty house. So she grabbed her bookbag and went to sit in the backyard. It was dusk, but the setting sun provided enough light for her to read as she laid down on the grass. She was reading a muggle novel by an author she had found last summer in her mother's library. Normally she didn't read many muggle books, but this particular author was rather famous so she decided to give it a shot. She finished Pride and Prejudice quickly, reading it in two days and then read Sense and Sensibility, another good read. Today she had picked up Emma and was enjoying it immensely. It was one of those strange things, but home made her feel much more half-muggle born than school did. She enjoyed learning about muggle culture and doing muggle things, but it was hard for her to fathom a life without magic.

Between her chapters she would write in her 'journal' to Scorpius and tell him how absolutely bored she was and how her parents would probably be gone until after dinner, so she would have to find something to cook pretty soon. As she was writing him, she heard a loud thud inside the house. Wondering if she had forgotten to put the anti-intruder charms on the fireplace, she quickly rushed inside the house. There, practically tossed on the floor, was a very soot covered Scorpius.

"What would you have done if I had locked our connection to the floo network?" Rose asked, trying to give her prefect-glare-of-death but failing miserably.

"I probably would have flown here." He told her and began taking off his jacket, which was now completely covered in soot. Rose muttered a cleaning spell and wiped off the dirty from his face and clothing, and then ran to give him a hug.

"I've missed you. I know it's only been five days, so that might seem ridiculous, but I really missed you." She admitted to him and she rested her head on his chest.

"I missed you too. Believe me, my house is practically unbearable." He groaned but didn't let go of her.

"Won't your parents realize you're missing?" She asked.

"Are you kidding? No, they'll think I'm doing homework or something." He waved it off took her hand. "I've never seen your house."

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting company. I was actually about to make some food, would you like anything?" she asked him.

"Sure, I haven't eaten either. I'll just have whatever you're having." He said as he took in the space around him. "But then I want a tour, so I can imagine where you are when you're away from me."

Rose smiled like an idiot and began boiling some water. She was an awful cook, but she could make basic pasta well and it would be the easiest to clean up. As she waited for the pasta to cook, she told Scorpius about the things she had been doing while they were apart and he shared stories that his father told him over the break. The two of them felt very at ease again, it was now almost unbearable to be apart from one another. Yes, Rose thought to herself, she had become one of _those_ girls. The ones who were overly attached to their boyfriends. But in her defense, she didn't like to think about him all alone in Malfoy Manor because she knew how miserable he was there.

After eating their dinner, Rose began to show him around the house. She walked past embarrassing pictures of her when she was little that hung on the walls and then the huge library. She explained to him why there were a bunch of strange lines on the wall in her kitchen (it was how tall Rose and Hugo were at their different ages) and took him to her mother's garden. She let him push her on the swing outside their house and walked up to show him the view from the attic. Finally, she showed him her room. Scorpius walked in and a big smile broke out onto his face.

"What?" She asked, surprised by his expression.

"It looks just like I thought it would. Books everywhere, semi-organized, bright, and yellow was my second guess at the color for the walls." He admitted.

"What was your first?" She asked with a laugh.

"Purple. But the lighter purple color, what's that called?"

"Lilac?" she asked with an amused grin.

"Yeah! Lilac." He began looking through her bookshelves out of curiosity.

"What is 'Romeo and Juliet'?" He asked. "Or Jane Eyre?"

She walked over to where he was standing, "they're muggle books. My mum likes them, so she gets them for me from time to time."

"Do you like them?" He asked.

"Yeah, I mean, they're really different in some ways. No magic makes the stories a little more… frustrating. Sometimes I read them and I just keep imagining what would have happened if they had a wand to solve their problems. But besides that, I really like them. I only read them when I'm at home though."

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know, I guess when I'm at home I really feel the "half muggle born" aspect of my life. I mean, my mum insisted on us learning a lot about Muggle culture when we were little. We even used to watch Muggle movies after dinner sometimes, which I still like." Rose said as she looked over the very-worn covers of some of her favorite books. "I like to read them on the balcony over there." She pointed to the doors. "It just feels like I'm little again."

"That's adorable Rose." He told her as he kissed her head. "You know, I've never seen a muggle movie."

"You've never seen a muggle movie?" Rose asked, completely shocked.

"Well, Malfoy Manor isn't exactly built for muggles to visit so we don't have a television or anything like that." He told her.

"Well, then we are going to have to change that." Rose told him and took his hand. She dragged him down the stairs to the living room where a little television sat in a cabinet.

"How does this work with all of the magic around?" Scorpius asked. "I thought muggle devices went all haywire with spells?"

"We bought it from a muggle to magic type store, where they turn muggle things into thing that can be controlled by magic. They have all kinds of weird stuff there; it's really interesting. Anyway, it's completely controlled by magic."

Rose and Scorpius settled into to watch a movie that Rose said was one of the few her father liked. Although Scorpius kept asking questions throughout it, ("A box of chocolates? Doesn't it say what is in it on the front of it? And what is shrimping, that can't be a verb.") they really enjoyed watching it together and afterwards Rose and Scorpius went walking outside into the chilly spring air. Wrapped in Scorpius' arms, Rose was completely content. The two of them laughed and shared stories as they walked down the road and back, until it got even colder and they went back inside. Curled up in Rose's room, Rose began to read to him one of her books.

"I don't see why you want me to read to you, it will probably be completely boring." She told him.

"I've never heard a muggle story before! Just, read me one of your fairytales. Like babbity rabbity or the tale of three brothers that we read."

"Fine fine, I'll find something." Rose started searching through her books for some of her old picture books. Finally, she stumbled upon Cinderella. While she was reading it, Scorpius kept getting amused smirks on his face.

"What?" Rose asked, laughter creeping into her voice.

"Oh, nothing." He replied.

"What?" She insisted.

"Well, the fairy godmother is a completely awful witch. I mean really, what charm did she use that only lasted till midnight? That would be more complicated then just summoning a gown for her. And what about the slipper? Why did those survive? And if they were a 'perfect fit' then why did they fall off? That's just sloppy. Professor McGonagall would be embarrassed by her transfiguration…"

"You know a muggle wrote this story right? They probably didn't realize how impractical it was." Rose told him, finding it adorable that he had so many problems with a simple story.

"Sure, but it's still horrible inaccurate." He mumbled and Rose began to laugh again. She leaned against his chest and continued to read the story. After she had finished, the two of them simply sat on her bed and stayed up talking about things that had been bothering them lately.

"What do you want to be when you leave Hogwarts Scorpius?" She asked him.

"I dunno. I kind of want to be an auror. It would be a strange way to clear my family's name a bit," he said. "What about you?"

"I don't know. I'm worried that somehow I'm going to choose the wrong thing to do with my life. Everyone says I have so much potential, but they never tell me where I should place that potential. I feel like I'll choose a job that won't be using everything I can offer. I know that sounds ridiculous but…"

"No, it doesn't. I understand that. You know that you belong somewhere, you're just not sure where that is." He told her.

"Exactly. It's like right now, I know I'm exactly where I should be. But then where will we be in two years from now? What if something awful happens and I'm miserable for the rest of my life."

"What awful thing could happen that would be that bad?" He asked her.

"I don't want to say…" she mumbled.

"Rose, it's me." He reminded her. "You can tell me anything."

"I'm afraid I'll somehow lose you. To some unknown cause and never be this happy again." To this, Scorpius replied by kissing her softly and tenderly. "You will never lose me. I promise." He told her.

Rose kissed him back, but this time she kissed him almost frantically, as if remembering that maybe this wouldn't last forever. Her fingers were tangled in his hair as she brought him closer to her, closing the gap between them. Rose knew she was being reckless; here they were in her parents' house kissing on her bed. But right now, she didn't care at all. She was with Scorpius and that was all that mattered.

Rose wasn't really sure how much time had passed when they finally pulled apart, out of breath and smiling. Scorpius' grey eyes were shining with a mischievous glint to them. Rose could feel herself blushing and she laid back on her bedspread. Scorpius followed suit and the two of them lied there with their hands intertwined.

"I love you Rose." He said, breaking their comfortable silence.

"I love you too." She whispered. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the slow rising and falling of his breath. The sound was so calming that she fell asleep, blissfully unaware of where they were.

**Review? :)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hello everyone! I just want to start off with apologies for, well, a lot of things. First, I'm very very sorry that I haven't been able to reply to reviews! I'm still having a problem with fanfiction and I don't know how to fix it. If any of you have had this problem please let me know, because I really want to reply to your reviews! All of my reviewers have been really kind to me and I would love to thank them! Everytime I read a review, it makes my whole day so much better. Which has been great this summer, because it's been a bit crazy. Which leads me to my second apology, I haven't updated this story in weeks. I am SO SO SO sorry about this. The reason is because I was traveling in Europe for a month and had no computer access (except for an iPad that I couldn't type on) and before that I was in a theatre program for a month where I had no wifi access either. So, I haven't really been able to post things all summer (although I have been reading your reviews!). Anyway, I know this chapter is long overdue, and I hope you forgive me! **

**On the bright side, I have had all summer to think of some great plot lines that I'm really excited to write! So, hopefully you will see those very soon!**

**Enjoy :)**

Chapter 33

"Rose!" Her mother called in the morning. "Rose, can I come in?" Ron's voice said from the door. Rose, who had been resting very peacefully up to this point, awoke with a start and bolted out of bed.

She looked down at the beautiful sleeping boy next to her, who was just beginning to stir. His expression turned confused when he saw that she was no longer next to him.

"Um, one moment! I'm… changing." She said. She began firing off curse words in her head and turned to look at Scorpius. He looked as bewildered and terrified as she felt and she quickly tried to figure out a plan.

"Shit," she said under her breath. She quickly flew open her closet door and stuffed him inside, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was too tall, but if her hunched over he would just fit. She was about to go open the door when she realized she was wearing her sweats from yesterday.

"Hang on one sec, I don't like what I'm wearing." Rose told her father frantically.

"Rose, I just need to say goodbye before we head off to work and give you a few things. I don't care what you're wearing." Ron said impatiently.

"Well, now I'm mid-change again so just hang on." She quickly threw open the door to her closet again and started switching her clothing as fast as she could. She pulled the top she was wearing over her head and Scorpius' eyes widened in surprise, clearly very surprised to see her changing in front of him. She quickly pulled on another shirt and hoped he wouldn't notice the sweatpants. Rose finally opened the door to she her father.

"Hey Dad, what's up?" She tried to say nonchalantly.

"You've got something on your neck you know… like a red mark or something." Rose tried to suppress the blush coming to her cheeks.

"I was playing with crookshanks last night and got scratched, no biggie. What did you need to give me?" Rose asked.

"Oh, just money for the day incase you and Hugo wanted to go out for lunch. Remember you're watching him and Lily today." Ron reminded her.

"Hu's not going to be happy about that. I don't think he really needs to be babysat anymore." Rose told him.

"Well, frankily we don't really want to give him the opportunity to burn the house down. And Lily was going to be at home alone today too, so we invited her over. Maybe you all can go into Diagon Alley today or something, I think Hugo needs new quidditch goggles."

"Alright, sounds good dad. I'll see you for dinner then?"

"Of course Rosie, I'll see you then." Ron ruffled her hair and turned to walk down the hall. Rose slowly closed the door and leaned back against it.

"That was extremely close." Rose told him.

"Yeah, but he's gone now right?" Scorpius asked.

"I think so. But let's wait until we hear them apparate." Rose and Scorpius listened hesitantly by the door for at least five minutes in silence. After no sound came, Rose decided to venture downstairs. She walked down to the kitchen to find Lily sitting there reading witch weekly at the table.

"Hello Lil's, is mum and dad around?" She asked as calmly as she could.

"He just went upstairs to say goodbye to you I thought?" She replied.

"Oh, well yes, but I was just wondering if they had already left." Rose told her.

"They have, why?" Lily gave her a quizzical look.

"I was going to ask mum where she put my Gryffindor jumper. You know, the one with the large G on it in gold?" Rose told her.

"You mean the one I watched you put away when you came home?" Lily asked with a smirk. "You forget, you might be smarter but I have an incredible memory. So, why do you want to check that your parents are gone Rose?"

Rose sighed and began to put her hair up into a bun, one of her odd nervous ticks. "Scorpius is here." Rose admitted.

"Oh merlin, you've got to be joking! Rose! What on earth were you thinking?" Rose could tell that Lily was half amused and half shocked at her cousin's unusual behavior.

"We accidently fell asleep last night, he was supposed to floo home before they got home." She explained quickly. "And then I woke up and dad was at the door, and I didn't know what to do…"

"Oh dear merlin," Lily repeated again.

"So, I simply threw on the first thing I could find and ran to the door."

Lily looked at her, stunned, "is he still up there?"

"Oh shoot," Rose said as she ran back up the stairs. "Scorp, the coast is clear. It's just Lily, come on down." She said as she popped her head into her room. Scorpius raised an eyebrow at her, but Rose replied "She already knows you're here." So he followed her down the stairs to the kitchen where Lily was waiting with a very amused look on her face.

"Well, how lovely it is to see you Scorpius. Even if it is coming out of my cousin's bedroom unexpectedly with a guilty expression early the next morning." Clearly Lily had been spending too much time with George.

"Lily…" Rose warned as she shot her a look.

"Oh what? I'm only joking. Although I wasn't joking about it being lovely to see you Scorpius, we rarely spend anytime together." Lily said.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but you know… the secret and all that." He mumbled.

"Oh, I'm not trying to make you feel bad. All I'm saying is that you are more than welcome to stay, provided you help me practice for the game against you." She gave him a kind but challenging look.

"I really don't know if you want to do that Lily, I don't want to beat down your confidence before the game…" he said with a smile.

"Oh no, really, it would be my pleasure." Lily told him with an unnaturally sweet smile. "Enjoy breakfast with your girlfriend, I'll see you on the pitch in an hour." She said as she hopped off her stool and walked out of the room.

"You know, I don't think I've ever spent time with Lily before. I like her, she's spunky." Rose laughed at his adjective choice.

"Yes, that's one way to describe her. She certainly is stubborn, at any rate." Rose told him as she opened up a cupboard. "I was thinking of scrambling some eggs, does that work?" She asked.

"Sure, that sounds good. You can teach me how." Scorpius said.

"You don't know how to?" She asked, surprised.

"I've never cooked for myself before." He looked a little embarrassed, but Rose thought it was sort of sweet.

"Alright, so grab me four eggs." She told him and he happily oblieged. "Then crack them into the bowl." He looked at her in confusion. "You know…" she tapped the egg on the side of the bowl until it cracked, then split it open and poured in the yolk. "Like that," she said and handed him one. He attempted to do it as well, but he got shell into the bowl that Rose then had to pick out. So, Rose cracked the next couple of eggs. Then she poured in the milk and had him stir it, something he was very proud of. "Haha, I can do it Rose!" he said with a humorous tone. "I never thought you couldn't." She said. They then poured the eggs onto the pan and began to push them around, and she let Scorpius handle that job while she toasted some bread. It was a simple breakfast, but she could tell Scorpius was pleased.

"I think these are the best eggs I've ever tasted. Maybe I should become a cook." He told her between mouthfuls.

"One step at a time Scorp, lets teach you how to make some pancakes next, ok?" Rose said with a smile on her face. He nodded enthusiastically and kept plowing through his food. By the time he was done, Lily was calling his name from the quidditch pitch and Rose followed him out to their backyard. The small pitch that Ron had put in a few years ago for Hugo clearly hadn't been used recently, but it was still in decent condition. The grass was overgrown and the boundary lines were fading, but it was still a very usable pitch.

Rose watched as her cousin and her boyfriend dueled it out for the snitch. The snitch they had was practically new, so it was faster and harder to find than the ones Scorpius and Lilly were used to at school. Still, Lily and Scorpius had both caught the snitch twice, and they were playing until three. It was getting heated, Rose wasn't really sure who would win in the end, but she was secretly hoping it would be Lily. She knew Scorpius would be gracious enough if he lost, but she wasn't so sure about Lily.

However, Scorpius grabbed the last snitch with ease from under Lily's nose and she simply stared at him as they went back down to the ground. "How did you do that?" Lily asked. "Really, I mean it, that was impressive."

"I would love to tell you that, but I'm gonna wait until after the last game of the season", he said with a playful grin.

"Fair enough Slytherin, but stay on your toes. You won that one by luck", she said.

"We'll see Gryffindor, we'll see." He replied and lightly hit her shoulder. "Good game though".

"Good game," she replied and grabbed their broom to take them into the shed. Rose spun Scorpius around and kissed him.

"I thought it was a good game too." She said with a wink.

"Oh did you now?" He said with a smirk.

"Mmhm", she replied with a grin.

"Great, because now its' your turn." He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Scorpius Malfoy, put me back on the ground this instant." Rose demanded.

"Absolutely not." He replied as he walked over to the broom cupboard.

"You haven't won the bet yet! You have no right to be doing this." She yelled at him as he grabbed a broom.

"You are conquering this fear Rose, it's ridiculous. There is nothing to be afraid of." He assured her and sat her down on the broom.

"It's not safe to ride two people to a broom." She told him.

"This is a two person broom Rose." He reminded her. "Haven't you ever flown on one of these before?"

"You know I don't ride brooms, it probably belongs to my parents. Mum doesn't like to ride brooms by herself." Rose explained.

"Figures. Well, here we go!" He kicked off from the ground.

"Scorpius! Stop. Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop!" She was practically screaming. She slammed her eyes shut and clutched the broom as tightly as she could. "I'm going to die. Oh dear merlin, I'm going to die."

"Shhhh," he whispered in her ear. "You're going to be fine."

"Scorpius, I don't like it up here. I want to go back. I want to go back right now." She said.

"Just open your eyes for two seconds and then I promise I will take you right back to the ground." She sighed as peered through her eyelashes. The scene below her was beautiful, as much as she hated to admit it. She had never seen her house, or any house for that matter, from this high up. It was incredible and it took her breath away. But then she looked straight down to the ground and began to have fear take over her again.

"Can we please go down now?" She asked him.

"Of course." He replied and the two soared back through the sky. He touched the broom down softly and Rose hopped off. "Was it really that bad?" He asked her.

"Yes. Sort of. Pretty much. The view was pretty. The flight was awful." She told him.

"I'm hurt. I thought my flying skills were better than that." He pretended to feel wounded.

"Let's just say that I like you better on the ground." Rose told him. "And besides, when I'm on the ground I can do this", she captured his lips in a kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled away softly, "but if you'd rather we go back up in the air…"

"No, I'm good with this," he whispered before kissing her again, practically lifting her off her feet in the process. The two were completely oblivious to the window being opened on the second floor "Oh get a room you two!" Lily shouted at them.

"Maybe we will!" Rose shouted back and laughed as she continued kissing her boyfriend. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad Easter break after all.

**Review? :)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hello everyone! I have very happy news! If you reviewed the last chapter (chapter 33), today I figured out how to reply to you! Hooray! Unfortunately, if you replied before chapter 33 (or before the date I uploaded it, August 27th) then I sadly cannot reply to your reviews :( something about the link being unavailable (whatever that means). But, I'm pretty awful with technology so if you have idea on how to fix this, let me know! But from now on, it should be working.**

**Which is GREAT! Because I love love love love love my reviewers! God, you guys are the best. Did you know that? **

**Anyway, I was so happy that I was getting reviews, that I stayed up late editing this chapter so that I could get it out to you all today! **

**Enjoy :) **

Chapter 34

Rose returned from the holidays to utter madness. The Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game was now in less than a month's time and the insanity had already begun. Gryffindors were dueling with Slytherins in the corridors, Slytherin's were mocking Gryffindors in the Great Hall, Hufflepuffs were betting with Ravenclaws on the outcome of the game, and the two teams were under significant stress from their houses to win.

Rose, for her part, couldn't be less interested in the outcome of the game. What she was most concerned about was the fact that her friends and family were being driven insane. Although Albus and Scorpius had agreed to put a "no dueling or harming" rule on their teammates as to protect the other captains' team, it was very hard to enforce. The people actually playing the game really didn't create the problems; it was the fans. Slytherin and Gryffindor were practically tied for the cup (which hadn't happened in a very long time) meaning that this game would determine the winner for the season. And, because it was between the two rival houses, the competition was even more intense than it would usually be. The two houses were getting desperate and were willing to do anything to ensure a win.

Rose quickly lost all of her friends except for Olivia because she was the only one not in quidditch practices. Albus and Scorpius were both cracking under pressure and had insisted on a ridiculous amount of practice time leading up to the game. It had gotten so bad that they were both called in to McGonagall's office and told that if they didn't cut their teammates some slack she would cancel the game and the cup wouldn't go to anyone. The mere idea of this terrified them and so practices weren't quite so long. However, Rose never saw her friends anyway because when they weren't on the pitch they were studying. The end of 6th year was much more difficult than they had imagined and Rose was shocked that her friends weren't failing their classes because they had so little time to study. Even Rose felt overwhelmed, as she had much more time than them.

The worse part was the tension between her friends. The pressure was really getting to Al and he had lashed out at his team the other day as a result. No one really wanted to speak to him in fear that he would start yelling again, so he had to be avoided. Then there was Rebecca, who almost got hit with a bludger the other day by Henry, a complete accident of course, but they were no longer speaking either. Hugo had missed a practice and the whole team felt that he wasn't pulling his weight now, so they were all angry with him. And Mackenzie was so nervous that she had hardly eaten that week. Her energy level was extremely down and Henry was really worried about her. The whole team was practically falling apart and Rose knew that if it carried on this way they wouldn't win the cup. Because of this, Rose had hatched a plan with Roxanne and Olivia in pure desperation that they hoped would bring the team back together. Or, it would pull them even farther apart.

A message was sent to every member of the team (besides Albus) telling them to go to an unused transfiguration classroom for a team meeting instead of practice. To Albus, the girls sent a note telling him to go to the empty transfiguration classroom to sign a code of conduct for the game given the shenanigans that had been happening over the past few weeks. Miraculously, because no one wanted to speak to Al, the plan worked perfectly and the entire team had gathered in the transfiguration classroom. When Albus walked in, Olivia and Rose came out from under the invisibility cloak and locked the door.

"What the bloody hell are all of you doing here?" Albus asked. "You all should have practice. Rose? Rox? Olivia?"

"We're staging an intervention." Rose told him.

"An intervention of what?" Albus asked, incredulous.

"You are the most pathetic team I have ever seen" Roxanne said. "Your winning streak was incredible and now that you are about to win the cup you are all freaking out at each other. That's what we have the Slytherins for. But instead, you are ruining your team. And we aren't prepared to let you prats lose because you couldn't get over your pride and apologize." Roxanne told them, sending glares at the team.

"I have a practice to run. I don't have time for this right now." Albus told them and motioned for them to get out.

"I took your name off the practice list, Scorpius took your spot. You have nowhere to be right now but here, fixing your problems. And we aren't letting you out until you do." Olivia said.

"You might as well get comfortable." Roxanne told them. The team reluctantly sat down in a circle and waited for someone to start talking.

"Rebecca, why haven't you talked to Henry all week?" Rose asked.

Becca sighed and rolled her eyes, but decided to speak anyway, "he threw a bludger at my head and didn't even apologize." She told the group.

"I did apologize!" He insisted.

"Not to me!" Becca shot back.

"What, do you think I was intentionally trying to hurt you?" He asked.

"No, but I would have liked an apology." She replied wounded.

"Well, I'm really sorry Becca. Truly, I am." Henry said.

"You could have just said that in the first place." She mumbled and cast her eyes downward.

"I know, and I'm sorry, I've just had other things on my mind. But I feel awful about it, really." Becca seemed satisfied and gave him a smile before turning back to Rose.

"Alright, Mackenzie why aren't you eating anymore? Everyone is really worried about you, and now you have no energy at all." Olivia said.

"I'm too nervous, I want to throw up all the time. There's just a lot of pressure and I really want to win. I'll be fine once the game is over but it's in a few days and I'm so desperate not to screw it up." She told the group.

"We're really worried that you're going to end up hurting yourself. This is an scary habit Kenzie." Becca told her.

"It's not a habit, but I just can't eat when I'm around anyone involved in quidditch. I go down to the kitchens early in the morning and eat, because that's when I actually feel hungry. And I eat a lot of food, the house elfs will make anything for me."

"That's not healthy though," Lily said.

"I know it's not, but it's all I can handle right now. Sitting with the other Gryffindors in too intense and feeling the glares of the Slytherins is awful. I just can't take it." Mackenzie said.

"What if the team ate by themselves during lunch outside?" Rose suggested.

"Yeah, that way it would be safer for everyone on the team," Roxanne added.

"Well, it isn't just the other Gryffindors that make me nervous." Mackenzie admitted under her breath.

"Who else makes you nervous on the team?" Roxanne asked. It became very clear when every team member began looking at Albus.

"You're being too rough on your team Albus." Roxanne said. "You're driving them to the ground."

"I don't mean to, but I'm nervous too! I haven't really slept in two weeks. I just want to win so badly, I'm worried that we aren't good enough." He admitted.

"Al, you were so confident before Easter break, what changed?" Olivia said.

"It's just a lot of pressure all of the sudden. If I get compared to James or my dad one more time I might explode."

"Well, if you keep beating up on your team then I can promise you that you will lose" Roxanne told him.

Albus paused and began playing with the stitching on his shoes. "I'm really sorry guys, I am. I didn't mean to be such a prat about this, I just am under a lot of stress right now." Albus said.

"Al, we know. We all are. But practices are like torture now; you need to lighten up." Lily said.

"I will, I promise. In fact, lets blow off practice today and tomorrow so that you all can actually sleep. The circles under your eyes are pretty bad."

"Well… technically practice today all ready got sort of cancelled…" Lily pointed out.

"But, if Rose, Olivia, and Roxanne will let us leave, then we could all just go to bed or try to finish some homework." Albus said.

"Only if you all promise to play nice and give your team some slack." Roxanne said.

"I will Rox, I promise. I'm really sorry." Albus told her.

"It's ok Al, alright everyone, go back to the common room." Olivia said.

The team didn't need to be told twice, everyone made a quick beeline for the door in order to get back and work on his or her assignments as soon as possible. Rose followed behind them, already slightly regretting that she had wasted valuable study time trying to sort out her cousin's quidditch team problems. Still, she knew it was for the best and tried to make the most progress she possibly could at the moment.

The days quickly bled together and before anyone had really had a chance to realize it, they were three days away from the game. Surprisingly, Albus had managed to keep relatively calm and controlled about the game. Their practices had been going much better and Mackenzie was finally eating again. This was all due to the 'bubble' as Lily had named it. Albus placed everyone on the team in the 'bubble' in order to keep stress to a minimum. The bubble was the idea that every team member never traveled anywhere alone and always had some method of defense or distraction. Everyone on the Gryffindor quidditch team ate most meals by themselves and, if at all possible, outside so that they were away from the other houses. In class they tried to block out all possible negative comments or overall mockery by getting to class early and securing a safe seat with a friend. It seemed silly and a bit juvenile, but the team had no other option. After watching the near-meltdown they almost had, Albus wasn't willing to take any chances. But with the game three days away it was getting hard to ignore.

Scorpius was trying to keep his team out of trouble as much as possible. Unfortunately, his beaters were trying to create some plan to scare the Gryffindor team before the game started. The moment Scorpius caught wind of this, he put it to a stop.

"Guys," Scorpius said at practice one chilly morning. "We can't go around playing pranks on the Gryffindors before the match. It's childish and stupid, and you know Professor Longbottom would penalize us for it in the match if it's bad enough. Besides, it a stupid idea anyway. Trying to throw them off their game before the match would make it seem like we couldn't win by just being the better team. Now, I don't know about you all, but I think we could really win this. But only if we stop acting like we've taken one too many bludgers to the head."

But captain speeches aside, Scorpius was getting nervous. There was a fair amount resting on this game, and the Slytherins weren't big fans of him to begin with. It wasn't like he didn't have friends, but he didn't have many friends. Besides Cade and Travis, most people steered clear of him for one reason or another. And he never spent much time in his common room anyway because of the group of Slytherin girls who would flirt with him shamelessly. And then there was his team, who respected him enough but didn't feel the need to spend much time with him off the pitch. Which was fine with him; he didn't like most of them anyway.

In a weird way, preparing for this game had brought out more opinions about Scorpius from his house. And, he had heard, that if they lost it would pretty much be blamed on him.

Before either team realized it, it was the night before the match. Slytherins and Gryffindors were sneaking down in the middle of the night to decorate the pitch, players were checking that their uniforms were clean, captains were going over last minute plays, and the entire school was buzzing with excitement. Scorpius was pacing back and forth in his dormitory and whispering different quidditch moves under his breath in an attempt to remember what to do tomorrow when he noticed something lying on his bed. A single rose, with petals that had red and green swirled together. It looked like a small work of art placed on his pillow. Attached to the stem were only two words on a small piece of parchment.

_Good Luck_

And for the first time in three days, Scorpius actually smiled.

**Are you all excited for the game? It's going to be pretty huge! I haven't totally finalized it though, so I'm always open to your ideas! Review? **


	35. Chapter 35

**Hello everyone! Um, first off, can I just say WOW! So many reviews on the last chapter! I was stunned, surprised, and so so excited. I can't think you enough (although I certainly am going to try!) Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I was so happy about all of the lovely reviews that I posted this a tad early :)  
On other happy review news, I noticed yesterday that we are almost to 300 reviews. Guys, 300 reviews? Do you know how much that means to me? I can't even believe it. I also can't believe that I've been writing this story for over a year now (that seems crazy too doesn't it?).  
This is a huge chapter, not in terms of length (it's actually a bit shorter than I wanted it to be, sorry!) but it terms of importance. You'll see as you read, but I hope I did it justice!  
Enjoy :) **

Chapter 35

After months of waiting, the day had finally arrived. Rose got up on Saturday morning and attempted to put together an outfit for the match. It was almost May, but the air was still chilly for some strange reason this week. The sun had come out though, so it was a large improvement over the past few months.

Rose threw on a pair of jeans and sneakers, finding that the 'neutral' part of her outfit was actually very easy to put together. Now she had to figure out what to wear to support the game. Normally, this was easy. She would put on a Gryffindor sweater and call it a day. Maybe if she was feeling very excited she would tie a ribbon or something in her hair, but that was about it.

But she knew that she had to find a way to put some green into her outfit. In reality she was rooting for Scorpius as much as she was rooting for her own team. She stayed there staring at her drawer for five minutes, not moving, when something was thrown at her head. She pulled a green tank top off her head and looked over at the culprit. Becca looked at her a replied, "what? I'm tired of seeing you stand there like a lost first year looking at their first textbook. Put it on under your Gryffindor sweater, problem solved." Rose gave her a thankful smile and Becca laughed and walked down to breakfast. Rose slipped the tank top on and then a sweater that her grandmother had knitted her with a large lion on it. It wasn't the most flattering thing in the world, but it was cozy and perfect for the spirit of the game.

With that, she went down to the great hall to see her friends before the game. The whole team was sitting at one end of the Gryffindor table with family and close friends surrounding them. It was surprisingly quiet, no one was speaking or eating and they were all fidgeting in their seats. Rose slid in next to Olivia and grabbed some food off the table.

"No luck with the food?" Rose asked.

"I've been practically begging them to eat" Olivia said back. "They won't listen. I'm thinking we should smuggle it so that we can give it to them during the game."

"Not a bad idea," Rose said as she sipped her pumpkin juice.

With the pre-game jitters building, Scorpius thought it best if he took his team down to the pitch to get set up. Everyone was more than happy to leave the Great Hall and slowly begin putting on their uniform and double checking their brooms. Soon, Scorpius and his team could hear the rumble of students coming down for the game. The roar of excitement started to build and build until finally the sound was deafening as the players took the field. Rose and secured good seats next to Olivia so that they could watch the game together. At this point she didn't care who won, she was just hoping no one got hurt.

But soon the balls were released and the game began. She had to admit: of all the games she had seen at Hogwarts, this was the most impressive. Both teams had stunning technique and were clearly very prepared for the game. So far it had been a pretty clean match, with both teams at 40 points. But after they were about 25 minutes into the game, things began getting rougher. The Gryffindor chasers were really superb and began scoring goal after goal against the Slytherins. I guess they had seen enough because one of the Slytherin beaters tried to take out Albus. Albus, who was bloody furious, continued to dodge shot after shot with little effort. As the game went on, it was clear that Slytherin had spent more time on their offense than defense, as the Gryffindor was now holding a 40-point lead. It was impressive, but not enough to feel safe in the game.

The students, on the other hand, were going wild. One 4th year that was a few rows in front of Rose had actually managed to light his hair on fire for the game. Another had created a fully operating lion head that would roar loudly when Gryffindor scored. Rose could hardly hear herself think over the noise, it was deafening.

By now the game had been going on for over an hour, and the players were getting more and more worried. Lily had been frantically searching for the snitch, but so far no luck was to be had. Slytherin had come back from the 40-point set back and had actually gained 10 points over Gryffindor. The plays were beautifully executed, not a single misstep from either team, and so the points began to rally back and forth. 20 points more than Gryffindor, 30 points more than Slytherin, 40 points more than Gryffindor, 20 points more than Slytherin and so on and so on. After a while the players began to get desperate. Plays were becoming reckless and stupid and defense was becoming careless in an attempt to steal the quaffle. But, after almost two hours of playing, Lily saw the snitch. It was clear that she had found it; she dove as fast as she could to try and keep up. Scorpius, who was on the other side of the field, had no chance of catching her if she kept her current speed. It was clear to the entire audience what was going on; Gryffindor might win. In an attempt to thwart this from happening, a Slytherin beater deliberately hurled a bludger straight at Lily, without even attempting to brush it off as a mistake. Lily saw it out of the corner of her eye and ducked, loosing precious seconds that allowed Scorpius to almost catch up to her. Albus at this point was livid. Rose had never seen him this angry in her entire life; his entire body was practically fuming. He flew over to Henry, took his beaters bat, and just as another bludger was going to be sent Lily's way he started whacking the Slytherin beater with it. "You-Stupid-Little-Slimy-Git". He said as he punctuated each word with a blow. The crowed went crazy, the Gryffindors were absolutely thrilled to be watching the Slytherin beater get beaten to a pulp by their captain. They almost didn't notice that a few moments later, Lily Potter caught the snitch.

When she touched down to the ground and raised her fist in the air, the whole arena erupted into sound. The Slytherins were booing with all their might, but the Gryffindors drowned them out easily. Madame Hooch took 30 points from the Gryffindor team's win because of the beater incident, but it was still enough to win by. The students ran onto the field and began hugging, crying, shouting, kissing, cheering, and celebrating. The whole pitch was covered with the different house colors, creating an explosion of emotion on the field. The teachers were trying to calm the students, but there was no hope. There was just too much excitement.

In the haze and confusion, Rose saw Scorpius walking away from the pitch and ran to catch up with him. "Hey," she said. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok. It's our own damn fault, if he hadn't tried to hit Lily with that bludger then we might have actually won. The fight distracted me." He admitted sadly.

"Hey," she said, raising his face so that his eyes would meet hers. "It's alright. You played a brilliant game; everyone says so. It's a shock that we won against you guys. But there's always next year. Cheer up, it's not like you aren't going to a party tonight, it just might not be for your own team". She said with a smirk.

"Ah, the bet. I forgot about the bet." He smiled at her.

"Well, that _is _your own damn fault. Come on, no one will be in the castle," she said with a wink. She began to run up to the door and he chased after her, laughing as he went. They ran through the entrance hall and into an empty classroom. Rose shut the door behind them and began to kiss her boyfriend with playful desire.

"Well, if this is what I get when I loose than I guess I should have lost more often." He said against her lips.

Rose giggled and continued to kiss him frantically. As an idea popped into her head, she pulled away from him for a moment to pull her sweater over her head. Scorpius raised an eyebrow at her but then broke into a huge smile when he saw the green tank top.

"You were on my side after all", he said as he pulled her closer to him.

"Always," she replied. He began to kiss her passionately, as they had not had a moment like this in weeks because of the game, and Rose responded enthusiastically. Leaning up against the wall, Rose tried to stay on her feet even though her knees were weakened by his kiss. She tangled her fingers in his slightly damp hair and pulled him closer, closing off the little space left between them. Both swept away by the kiss, caught up in the moment, they didn't hear the 5th year boy walk though the door. They only noticed his presence at all when the door slammed shut again.

Rose quickly withdrew from Scorpius and ran out the door, following whoever had just spied on them. "Wait!" she yelled and followed a Slytherin-robed figure down the corridor. He turned around to face her and she immediately recognized him. It was Acker, one of Goyle's best friends. He was there for her attack that winter. She halted without thinking about it and stared at his face.

"It's time for some much needed balancing of the scales Weasley." He told her coolly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Rose replied.

"It means that you and your little boyfriend won't be hiding in broom cupboards and empty classrooms anymore. I'm off to tell Draco about this, and I'm sure your father will hear as well."

"Who says he's going to believe you?" Rose shot back, knowing that was weak defense.

"Why would I bother to tell him that if it wasn't true?" he gave her a menacing glare and then sauntered away down the corridor. Scorpius caught up to her as he left.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Acker, and he just left to tell your father about us."

**So the day as finally arrived! Scorpius and Rose's relation is being pulled out of the shadows at last. What did you think? Please please review, I'm so curious to hear your reactions! And of course, I'd love to reach 300 with the revelation chapter, that would be pretty awesome :) **


	36. Chapter 36

**Hello everyone! This author's note may be a tad long, but you're welcome to skip it and go straight to the chapter if you wish!  
First, I want to give a MASSIVE thank you to my reviewers. I am so grateful to all of you, you keep me wanting to write this story even when I'm stuck in writers block or staying up late to edit a chapter. Really, you guys are the best, I couldn't do this without you.  
And on a reviewers note, we are ONE review away from 300 reviews! I'm still in a state of shock, that's huge!  
And what a great chapter to reach that number on! Yes everyone, 36 chapters later and Ron is finally finding out about Rose and Scorpius. This is probably the most terrifying chapter I've ever had to write because there's a lot of pressure to get it right! I really hope I did it justice.  
Enjoy :) **

Chapter 36

"What are we going to do?" He asked Rose. "He'll probably go to your father, what will we do if he finds out and we didn't tell him first!" Scorpius said, panic written all over his face.

"We have to get to him first." Rose said. "We have to tell him before Draco can. The only way Acker can tell him is by owl, that could give us a few hours." Rose said quickly.

"We have no way to get to him though! We can't just fly home, and we can't apparate inside school grounds!"

"No, but I bet professor Longbottom has access to the floo network, we just have to use his fireplace!" Rose exclaimed.

"But he's not just going to let us floo home without an explanation. He's especially not going to let _**us **_floo without an explanation." He reminded her.

"So we tell him why we have to floo home." Rose said simply. "He's going to find out regardless, and it's the only way to get to my family in time."

"I mean… yeah, ok." Scorpius replied hesitantly. He stared at Rose with a worried look to his eyes and nodded his head slightly to the left as if to say 'we better go'.

They began to walk down the corridor and passed many paintings that looked very confused when Scorpius stopped her, "wait Rose," she turned to face him and he kissed her quickly but passionately. "I love you. Whatever happens, I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." She said and softly kissed him one more time before running down the corridor as fast as she could to reach professor Longbottom's office. The Gryffindor party was starting now and they could hear it as they frantically knocked on the door to his office. Neville opened the door and peered outside.

"Rose? Scorpius? To what do I owe this surprise?" he asked them with a very confused look on his face.

"We have a favor to ask you." Rose said.

"Well then by all means, come in." Neville said as he gestured for them to take a seat in his office. The pair quickly did as they were told and looked up at him, anxious to begin but not really sure where to start.

"What can I do for you?" Neville asked curiously.

"Um, I'm not really sure how to ask this. Well, simply put, we need to get home. To my home, I mean. We have to be the first one to tell my dad something really important, before he finds out from someone else." Rose said hurriedly.

"Something important?" Neville raised his eyebrows at them, "What exactly do you mean by something important?"

"Scorpius and I… are in love. We have been since November and we never told him. We didn't really tell anyone because we were afraid. Afraid of what people might say or what comparisons they might draw. Even you professor, I see the way you look at him. You look at him and you see his father, but he isn't there! And if my dad finds out from Draco then we have no hope of him ever accepting us." Rose blurted out in one breath. "And if he doesn't then I don't know what I'll do." Rose admitted softly.

"Rose, I would love to help you, but I can't just send you home in the middle of the semester if you aren't injured or sick. I'm really sorry Rose, but I don't think there is anything I can do." Neville said.

"But Professor, all we are asking is to use your access to the floo network. That's all we need." She begged him.

"Rose, I'm sorry but I really don't think I'm allowed to…" he began, but Rose cut him off.

"Professor, please? I know you know what it feels like to be in love. I know you might think that we're just kids, but we're not. I'm as old as my uncle was when he fell in love with my aunt! Please help us." Rose pleaded.

Neville sat there looking into the faces of two young wizards who were undeniably in love, as much as he hated to admit it. But, it was clear. He didn't want to be the one to blame as to why they were pulled apart, even though he found out so suddenly. So, he bowed his head in defeat.

"Go ahead, but be back no later than eleven. That's as long as I can cover for you." He told them with a small smile.

"Thank you so much professor!" Rose beamed and grabbed Scorpius by the hand and he followed her into the fireplace. She grabbed some floo powder out of the pot beside it and with a few words they were standing in a wizarding pub a few doors down from her house. She walked out of the dark pub and into the late afternoon sunlight. Grabbing Scorpius' hand, she walked him down the street and over to the stone walkway that lead up to her front door.

"Are you ready?" She asked him hesitantly.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied with a weak smile. "Should we go in together, or do you want to go in first?"

"I better go in first," She told him, and left him standing on the walkway. Rose stared down at the ground as she slowly walked up to her door. She felt like an intruder now, barging in on her parents' calm life. She hated the fact that of all people, she would be the one who would cause them to be up all night. She opened up the side entrance to the kitchen and walked right in as her parents were sitting in the living room.

Her mother looked up from her thick book, "Rose? What are you doing home?"

"Oh you know, I just thought…" Rose tried to think of a decent excuse for her presence, but decided that it wasn't worth pretending. "There's, well, there's something that I need to tell you. Before someone else does, at least."

"What's going on? Was there another attack?" Ron asked her, looking very concerned.

"No Dad, there wasn't. But you should still stay sitting because of what I have to tell you." She warned him.

"Sweetheart, you're killing us with suspense," Hermione said. "If it's this important you should just say it."

"I'mdatingScorpiusMalfoy!" Rose quickly blurted out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Hermione told her.

"I'm um, I'm dating Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy." Rose said quietly and looked at her shoes. "I meant to tell you, but well, I couldn't. And I was going to tell you at the end of the year, but it couldn't wait either."

Ron remained perfectly still; he hadn't moved a single muscle since the words had escaped her lips.

"How long?" Her mother asked in a very even tone.

"A while," she replied evasively.

"Rose…" her mother warned.

"Ok, since November." she admitted. "I'm so so sorry and I know I should have told you, but I couldn't. I was too afraid."

"Like hell you should have been afraid!" Ron said loudly, finally looking at her.

"I know he's not the boy you would have chosen for me, I realize that, but you have to get to know him. Please, he's nothing like his father!"

"Rose, you went behind our back to date him. And he encouraged it. He's _exactly_ like his father." Ron spat.

"No he's not! He's one of the kindest people I have ever met. He's makes me want to be a better person!" She protested.

"You are not a better person by being around him Rose. I… I have never been more ashamed of you." Ron told her.

"So you're ashamed of me for loving someone?" Rose asked him.

"You love him?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"I do mum. I really do. I know that might seem crazy, and believe me, if you told me about this last year I wouldn't have believed you. But I love him so much." She explained, praying that her mother would see how much she meant it.

"My little girl. My little girl in love with a Malfoy, I cannot believe this!" Ron said as he started to pace the floor.

"Dad, calm down." Rose begged him.

"Calm down? Calm down? You're talking about Draco Malfoy's son! The grandchild of the people who worked for a monster who almost killed us! Who killed so many of your relatives! Do you not even care how cruel his family as been towards us!" Ron was practically shouting now.

"Of course I care! If I didn't, don't you think I would have talked to him before this year? The only reason I got to know him at all was because of prefect's duties! And then I realized how different he was then Draco, and found out about how is family has practically disowned him already. They don't even love him dad." Rose told him.

"The Malfoy family doesn't love anyone Rose." Ron told her.

"That's not true! You know it's not! And he's hardly a Malfoy; he doesn't even have friends in his own house! Half of them hate him because he's nothing like Draco and half of them hate him because he has some connection to the Malfoys! He's miserable dad; he's been compared to Draco his whole life." Rose explained.

"I don't care how different he is than Draco. He's a Slytherin, and that means he's just going to use you." Ron said plainly.

"That's not true! You are so close-minded that you don't even see what's right in front of you!" She yelled at him.

"Close-minded? Close-minded! This boy is from the same house as the boy who almost killed your cousin. His father was best friends with the father of the boy who tried to kill you. And you call me close-minded? How about someone who's trying to protect your life!" He reminded her.

"Scorpius had nothing to do with any of that! He was trying to help avoid those attacks! He never left my bedside after it happened!"

"How do you know he wasn't there Rose? How do you know this wasn't a plot?"

"Because I know him! And even if I didn't, he would have had plenty of opportunities to try and kill me! But he clearly didn't, because he loves me too!"

At that horrible un-opportune moment, Scorpius walked through the door.

"I heard shouting. Rose I know you wanted to do this alone but I couldn't let you." He told her apologetically. "Mr. Weasley, I know you probably don't want me seeing your daughter but," at that moment Ron took out his wand.

"What are you doing?" Hermione yelled and threw up a shield charm between a bewildered Scorpius and a wild Ron.

"Rose, I forbid you from seeing him ever again. I don't want him near you. Hell I don't even want him in the same room as you." Ron told her.

"I'm sorry Dad, but I can't do that. I love him, I'm not just going to let him go that easily." She argued.

Ron locked eyes with her and gave her a crazed glare that he had never given to her in her entire life. He stood there, examining something part of her mind and making Rose feel like a knife had been driven though her stomach.

"Fine. Then get the hell out of my house." Ron told her coldly.

"Ronald!" Hermione said.

"I mean it. I can't look at you right now. We can talk at the end of term. But I've never been more disappointed in you Rose. I always thought you were the smart one. I guess I was wrong."

At that Rose began to cry and her entire body began to shake as she sobbed. "You don't mean that…" she whispered.

"I do. I wish I didn't, but I do." Ron said harshly. "You have to go." He added in a softer voice. Rose and Scorpius walked out of the front door and began to walk down the path when they heard the front door to Rose's house slam. Rose turned and grabbed her wand, prepared to put up another shield charm again her father, but it was her mum who came running out.

"Rose please wait," Hermione said. She ran down the walkway and stopped in front of Rose.

"Look, I don't approve of what you did. Actually, I think it was completely reckless, irresponsible, foolish, thoughtless, and horribly unwise. But I think you made a lot of fair points that Ron wasn't willing to acknowledge," she said, wiping her own eyes of tears." I'm not saying I condone this; I'm not even close. But you're my daughter and I love you, and I couldn't leave without telling you that." She wrapped Rose up into a hug as she rested her head against her mother and sobbed.

"I know what it's like to be sixteen and in love. But remember that there are more important things in this world, ok?" Hermione said before kissing Rose's head and walking back towards the hose. Rose watched her go and more tears escaped from her eyes.

"I… I guess we should go." Rose mumbled.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked her softly, and pulled her in closer to him.

"Back to Proffesor Longbottom's office like he told us too," she said as she dried the area around her eyes.

"He said to be back by eleven, we have plenty of time before then. And I really don't think we want to go back to the castle like this." He reminded her.

"No, I guess you're right. But where can we go?" Rose asked him.

"Come on, let's go to Hogsmede. Maybe we can go to the Shrieking Shack or something." He suggested as he wrapped an arm around her waist. She nodded her head and the two of them walked back into the pub. Heading over to the fireplace, the two of them quickly appeared in the shrieking shack.

Rose looked around the living room and suddenly sat down against the couch and began to weep. Rose wasn't intending to cry in front of Scorpius again, not like this. Rose didn't used to be much of a crier and she didn't want him to get the wrong impression of her. But at that moment, she couldn't help herself.

All her life she had been trying to impress her parents, even when she wasn't doing it consciously. She wanted so much for them to be proud of her, for them to appreciate all of her hard work and effort and see her as the perfect daughter. She had always wanted to be the perfect daughter. She constantly thought that she was extremely lucky: great family, many talents, and wonderful friends. It only made sense to try and make the most of everything given to her. She had always strived to be the best. So what happened?

She knew she wasn't a failure. In fact, she was happier than she had ever been before. She was in love with a wonderful boy, and she was still the same amazing student and good friend that she always had been. But to hear her father say that he was ashamed of her? It was one of her worst nightmares.

But what made it even more horrible? Those words didn't change anything. As a child, if her father had told her that he was disappointed in something she had done, then she would go out of her way to prove that she would never do it again. Why break the rules? You don't really win that way. You're just cheating at the game, which is never as fun. But now, hearing her father say some of the most heartbreaking things to her, she didn't care. She was going to love Scorpius anyway. And with that, she felt part of her childhood die. She now felt that she knew better than her parents, and it was a terrifying feeling.

So, Rose cried. She cried for a loss of innocence, and a dream dying. She cried for the things she couldn't control. She cried for what was to come. She cried for everything she had destroyed.

Scorpius wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth while she cried, trying to comfort her. He planted a kiss on top of her head and whispered, "shh, it'll be ok" In her ear. She felt the warmth of leaning against him and burrowed her head into his chest. Her crying was quieter now, slowly getting softer as the minutes past. Before long, she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Scorpius stared at his sleeping girlfriend and ran his fingers through her tangled tresses. Part of him wished he could wake her up and ask exactly what happened, but the other part of him didn't want to ever know. It had been a while since he had seen Rose cry like that; in fact he wasn't sure if he had ever seen her cry with that much sadness before. Except for maybe the night that he first kissed her, which seemed far too ironic.

He watched the clock tick as the minutes passed and began to think about what all this meant. He had been so wrapped up in her family's reaction that he hadn't even thought about his own.

He could only imagine his father now. Face reddening, eyes narrowing, curse words streaming out of his mouth endlessly. Probably upstairs destroying his room in anger, while most likely calling him a traitor. He wasn't so sure about his mother, obviously she'd be ashamed, but how would she react? Would she just sit there in a stone silence and think about where she went wrong with her only son?

Scorpius wasn't really sure what to do now. Does he wait until he hears their reaction? Does he try to reason with them? He did have another year at school to worry about, and he wasn't even of age yet. And where would he go this summer? Maybe he could ask Rose's uncle if he could stay in the shop if he worked for him? That might be a possibility.

At any rate, once he and Rose were out of Hogwarts they were going to have to find their own flat. Then hopefully they would finally be out of the scrutinizing eyes of their families and classmates.

That was another thing, what if Acker decided to tell the Slytherin house as well? Scorpius wouldn't be embarrassed per se, but he would feel like even more of an outsider in his own house. Again.

Why did he have to go snog her in that classroom? Why were they so reckless, they didn't even lock the bloody door! It was so idiotic of him not to be thinking of that, and now look where they are.

He glanced up at the clock and noticed it was twenty till eleven. It would probably be good to get back to professor Longbottom's office soon, otherwise he would wonder what they had been up to for this long.

"Rose," he whispered in her ear.

"Did I fall asleep?" she mumbled as she began to stir.

"Mhm, you did. We have to go back to Professor Longbottom now, ok?"

"We do? Right now?" She asked hazily.

"Yes, we do" he murmured in her ear.

"Can't I just run away with you?" She whispered.

"Maybe some other day." He said with a quiet laugh. "Come on Rosie, we have to go." He coaxed her up in her half-asleep state and floo'ed back to Professor Longbottom's office, not yet prepared to face what was waiting for them.

**So, who is going to be my 300th review? :) I am dying to hear what you thought of the chapter, please please please review! **


	37. Chapter 37

**Hello everyone! First off, I promise I'm still alive and writing this story! I know it's only been about two weeks, but I feel awful that I fell off my updating schedule. I could tell you all the reasons why this didn't get posted (going back to classes, 5 tests this week, 2 essays, more problems then I wish to deal with) But now that I'm starting to get back to a normal schedule again, hopefully I'll be updating much more.  
This also means that my FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL, AND INCREDIBLE REVIEWERS who were so kind to comment on the last chapter, have not been replied to yet :( But the moment I finish posting this, I am replying to all of you (because you guys are my favorite people in the world!)  
Enjoy :) **

Chapter 37

Rose and Scorpius left a note on Proffessor Longbottom's desk (as he was not in his office like they had suspected) and walked down to the Gryffindor common room together. Rose considered making him wait so that she could get the invisablility cloak, but at this point there was no use. Besides, if she was able to get them through the crowd quick enough, they might not notice.

Rose walked up to the Fat Lady prepared to give the password, but she interrupted her. "What are you doing here with that Slytherin boy?" she ask, soundly mildly horrified.

"Praepossum" Rose said to her, already growing impatient.

"I don't want him in our common room." She said hautily.

"Praepossum!" Rose repeated angrily.

"Alright alright, here you go" she said as the portrait hole swung open.

Rose grabbed Scorpius' hand and lead him through the huge amount of Gryffindors that were in the seemingly small common room. She saw a few curious glances, but no signs of recognition and so she grabbed a broom that was lying against one of the walls and handed it to Scorpius.

"Take this and fly up to my dorm." She told him.

"Why on earth would I do that?" He asked her with a confused expression.

"Because, the stairs won't let you walk on them, this is easier. No one will notice, I'll just start a distraction." Rose said quickly, and then realized she really didn't have a plan. "Er, THREE CHEERS FOR ALBUS!" she yelled out as loudly as she could. "Let's go Albus!" She started off, praying that everyone would catch on. Luckily, they did and it provided Scorpius just enough time to get stairs. Rose then began to search for someone who wasn't involved in the game that could help her, and quickly found Roxanne.

"Rox I need your help." Rose told her as she ran over to her.

"Why Rose, what's wrong? Where have you been anyway? Off in a broom cupboard with your Slytherin eh?" Roxanne replied with a wink.

"An empty classroom, and that's when Acker saw us. And then left to tell Draco." She told her bluntly.

"Oh dear merlin you're kidding me." Roxanne said, suddenly realizing how serious this was.

"No, not at all. And so I just left to tell mum and dad, and he kicked me out."

"Uncle Ron kicked you out of the house?" Roxanne replied, incredulous.

"At least until the end of term. He said we'd talk, but that he had never been more ashamed of me." Rose told her plainly in order to prevent herself from crying again.

"When did this all happen?" Roxanne asked.

"We just got back a few minutes ago. Scorpius is upstairs in my room, what do I do?" Rose asked.

"What do you mean?" Roxanne replied.

"The whole school will find out if I don't do something, but what on earth can I do to stop that from happening?" She asked pleadingly.

"Rosie, there isn't anything you can do. It's Acker. I hate to be the one to say this, but I bet the whole Slytherin house knows already. They're probably going to use it as an excuse to why they lost the game." She said bitterly.

"But I can't just send Scorpius back to them! That isn't right either." Rose protested.

"Just have him stay with you for the night. You already got him in your dorm, just keep him there." Roxanne suggested.

"You're kidding right?" Rose said. "I can't have him stay there!"

"Why not? It's not like the two of you haven't fallen asleep together before, this time you'll just have chaperones." Roxanne explained.

"But I'm not even supposed to have him up there at all! To have him spend the night is breaking about fifteen school rules!" Rose argued.

"Oh, and you've never broken a school rule before? No one will think to look for him there; he can't even technically get up the stairs. It's fine, just wake up early enough to get him out of the common room."

"But he's spending the night with Olivia, Mackenzie, and Becca." She replied.

"Yeah, and they're the only 6th year Gryffindors who know about this besides Albus and Henry, so you're lucky you don't have any other roommates." Roxanne reminded her. "Look, you asked for my advice, here it is. Spend the night with Scorpius in your dorm so that nothing else happens before tomorrow morning. Live in 'shelter' for one for night before all hell breaks loose in the morning." Roxanne shrugged her shoulders and looked to Rose for a response.

"I… ok. Fine, thanks Rox."

"Anytime Rosie, anytime at all." She said with a smile and gave Rose a hug before going back to the party. Rose went back up the stairs to her room and found Scorpius looking around her room.  
"So…this is your dorm?" he asked her nonchalantly.

"Yep, listen, Roxanne thinks it might be a good idea for you to stay here tonight. She's worried that the Slytherin's might not be so…ah, receptive to our relationship. I think she's right." Rose admitted.

"But, your roommates?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"As long as there isn't any kissing, we should be fine. They all know about us anyway." She explained.

"Um, alright. We should probably try to sleep then, I think Professor Longbottom will end the party at midnight, it's getting close to that." He said.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Although, you're still in your quidditch robes, lemme go grab some pajamas from Al. Be right back, ok?" She said as she slipped out the door and down the staircase. Sure enough, the party was still raging. She searched the floor for Albus but couldn't find him anywhere. Instead, she spotted Hugo.

"Hu? Where is Al?" She asked.

"I dunno. Last I saw he was snogging Olivia by the portrait hole, but I think they wanted to go somewhere a little more…private. Probably the room of requirement or something." He suggested.

"Well, what about Henry?" She asked.

"I saw him with Mackenzie a few minutes ago, I think they're over by the fireplace." She looked around and saw the Hugo was right, Mackenzie was sitting with her boyfriend's arm around her as they told stories from the game. Rose thanked Hugo and walked over to her two friends.

"Hey Henry, can I borrow you for just a minute? Sorry to interrupt," she said as she barged into his story.

"Not a problem at all Rose," he got up from the couch and walked over to a rather empty part of the common room. "Where have you been tonight? We've been looking for you."

"Yeah about that, well Acker saw Scorpius and I kissing and went to go tell Draco about it. So we wanted to tell my parents before he had a chance to and, um, it didn't go too well. But that's not the point, the point is that Acker is probably telling the entire Slytherin house right now, and so Scorpius is spending the night in our dorm tonight."

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, incredulous.

"He's only sleeping there, I just don't trust the Slytherins to be smart about their actions. Besides, he's staying one night and then we'll figure something out." She explained.

"You don't think that they'll notice he's not there?" Henry asked.

"No, I'm sure they will. But they'll probably think he is just spending the night in the Room of Requirement or something."

"Wait, why do you need me for this?" Henry asked.

"I need to borrow pajamas, he's still in his quidditch robes." She told him simply. Henry raised an eyebrow at her and then sighed, waving his hand as an indication to follow him. She walked up to the boys dormitories with him and went into the 6th year boys room. It wasn't like she hadn't been here before, she was constantly here because of Albus, but it looked even messier than usual.

Henry began to open his drawers, "alright, he can take the Chudley Cannons shirt that Hugo gave me for Christmas, and here's a pair of pants he can wear as well." He handed the items to her and she gave him a smile.

"Thanks Henry," she said.

"Hey don't mention it. I mean really, don't mention it. Albus wouldn't be too happy to learn that I assisted Scorpius spending the night with you. Even if it is chaperoned."

"Nothing's going to happen, there are three other girls in the room! We're perfectly responsible; we're prefects for merlin's sake!" She exclaimed as she followed him out the door.

"But he is being good to you, right Rose? He's not you know… pressuring you or anything?" Henry began to blush and his eyes were cast downwards.

"Henry, he's a perfect gentleman. I promise." She said with a smirk.

"He better be…" Henry grumbled as he went back to the party. Rose chucked at him and went back up to her dorm with the clothes.

"Here," she said as she handed them to Scorpius. "I got them from Henry."

"Thanks," he said as he began to take off his dirty quidditch gear. He started taking off his shin guards and before Rose knew it, Scorpius was standing by her bed in only his boxers. Rose couldn't help it, she knew she must have looked ridiculous, but she just stood there and stared at him. He had clearly been working out to prepare for the game, because he looked even more muscular then when she last saw him. She was trying to think of another word for his physique, but could only think of one. Beautiful. He looked beautiful.

Scorpius turned his head slightly and caught her staring, only for Rose to turn a deep shade of scarlet and avert her eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled and began rummaging through her drawers to find something to wear.

"It's ok," he said with a smirk and continued getting dressed. When he turned back around, Rose was dressed too in a simple tee-shirt and cotton shorts. He smiled at her and she looked at him quizzically.

"What?" She asked, clearly confused.

"Oh nothing," he said still smiling.

"No really, what?" she asked.

"You're just… you manage to always look so beautiful. I just don't understand it." He said softly as if saying it just to himself. Rose began to blush and walked closer to him.

"So are you," she said quietly and she kissed him slowly but intensely. Scorpius replied enthusiastically, cupping her face in his hands and bringing her closer to him. She felt his lips like fire on hers, and soon they began trailing down her neck. Her breathing hitched and her eyelids fluttered when his mouth found all the right places. Soon she brought his head back to hers and began kissing it fervently; the tingles she felt overtaking her brain. The two of them fell backwards onto her bed and continued kissing, Scorpius lying on top of her. Scorpius' hands roamed over her back while they kissed, his smooth hands running over hear bare skin. It was all getting a bit out of hand when Rose heard footsteps coming up the stairs and quickly pushed Scorpius off of her. Just as they were standing up, Becca came in the room.

"Scorpius? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Acker knows. He'll tell the entire Slytherin house tonight, we already told my parents. We just wanted Scorpius to stay hear tonight so that he doesn't have to deal with them." Rose explained quickly.

"You realize how many rules you're breaking right?" She said. Rose nodded her head solemnly and replied, "This is sort of our only choice".

The conversation was repeated with her other two roommates until finally, they were in bed with the lights out. Scorpius lay beside her with his arms wrapped around her waist, the two of them trying to fit onto a bed made for one. It was an amusing scene, but all Rose could think about was what may have almost happened if Becca hadn't walked in on them. She hadn't been able to have much alone time with Scorpius because of the game, so they hadn't been like that together in a while. But then again, she pondered how far it would have gone before one of them stepped in. Rose wasn't so sure if she had the willpower to when he was so enticing to her.

As much as her lack of control bothered her, she couldn't help but smiling at the thought. Drifting into sleep was easier than she expected and before she knew it, she was asleep.

The next morning came early, Rose awoke to Scorpius lightly kissing her forehead. "We have to get up, we'll be late for breakfast."

Rose got up and wondered what they were going to do about the clothing situation, as Scorpius still didn't have his robes. She grabbed the invisibility cloak from under her bed and handed it to him. "Go to your room and get some clothes, I'll see you after breakfast." She kissed him on the cheek before he sleepily went down the stairs on the borrowed broomstick.

Rose got dressed and prepared herself for what awaited her in the Great Hall. She practiced making calm, collected, and confident faces in the mirror just in case. Her friends were watching her do this and thought she was out of her mind, but their concerns only grew when she attempted to stay in their room for as long as humanly possible.

"Rose." Becca snapped after a while. "You're being ridiculous. Get downstairs, and face whatever happened last night. The longer you avoid it, the worse it will get." She pointed out simply.

Rose sighed and picked up her books from her bed. With a nod of her head, she followed her other roommates out the door. From the moment she stepped out of the portrait hole, she could feel people staring at her. It made her skin scrawl, all of those eyes fixed on her face. It reminded her vaguely of when she finally left the hospital wing after being attacked, but back then people were ashamed to stare so blatantly. Now it seemed like she had turned into a troll overnight by the looks she was getting.

Her friends attempted to surround her, but there was little use. By the time she got to the Great Hall, she was doomed. As she was walking in she could hear the abnormally loud sound of talking and even gasps going up from the different tables. Girls were whispering in each other's ears, looking around to see who was overhearing even though the entire hall was discussing the same thing. By the time they noticed her, the loud chatter became almost silent. Giggles went up through the crowd and the whispering became much hushed and urgent. Rose tried to stride confidently to her seat, but ended up walking a bit faster than she normally would. She saw Henry and Albus sitting down and quickly went to join them. She took one look at their faces and her stomach immediately dropped.

"Well, since only one person knew about your relationship who wasn't us, naturally the entire school has heard all about it." Albus informed her.

"You're kidding," Rose said. "Everyone? So quickly?"

"Gossip spreads like wildfire, and yours is particularly flammable. The stuff that they're coming up with is becoming insane." Henry said.

"What'd you mean the stuff they're coming up with?" Mackenzie asked.

"Rose and Scorpius' love story has been blown way out of proportion. I've heard so many version today that they're starting to blend," Henry complained.

"Such as?" Olivia asked.

"Well, the most common one is that you two are running away together at the end of this year and raising dragons somewhere in Ireland." Albus informed her.

"You're kidding me right?" Rose asked him.

"It get's better. Other's say that one of you took a love potion made by the other, depending on what house you listen to. Oh, there have been some rumors that Scorpius is using you obviously as a way to get back at your family." Henry added.

"Why can't people just stick to the facts? Acker walked in on Scorpius and I, end of story." She groaned and took a bite of toast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a red headed girl walking towards her.

"So Rose, I hear you're pregnant," Lily said as she slid into her seat. "Anything you want to tell us? Because I think that Lilly the Third would make a lovely name." She said with a smirk.

"What!" She exclaimed. Albus and Becca began to chuckle, "Guys, this isn't funny. This is awful!" Rose protested.

"Well, you should know that the preggo rumors are coming from a different rumor that Acker walked in on the two of you shagging. That's not true, is it Rose?" Lily asked.

"Of course it's not true! None of this is true! I don't even like dragons!" Rose exclaimed.

"Rose, is it true that you're dating Scorpius to get revenge on his father who killed your relatives? And that when he takes you home you intend on executing a plan to murder Draco?" Amber Brown asked her, sounding shocked.

"Oh shove off Amber," Mackenzie said. "How stupid would you have to be to actually believe that?" Amber recoiled back to her spot further down on the table.

"This is ridiculous. What am I going to do? Wait, where is Scorpius?" Rose asked.

"He already sat down a while ago. He's sitting at the end of his table, not talking to anyone." Albus told her. Rose looked across and saw a very angry Scorpius spearing his eggs and shoving them into his mouth. She could practically see the fury radiating off of him.

"Look Rosie, eventually the rumors will die down. They have to." Henry said to her.

"Rose, apparently you should fear for your life" Roxanne said as she appeared next to them.

"I'm sorry what?" Olivia replied.

"People have been saying that Draco wants to kill you and then disinherit Scorpius for what you two did. That's not true right?"

"No, we haven't heard Draco's reaction yet," Rose said tiredly.

"Well, the good news is that no one knows you left the castle last night, which means that no one knows why." Lily said.

Rose made the mistake of looking up at the teachers' table; only to find many confused faces staring back at her. The worse was Neville, who looked like he had been hit with a brick.

Rose got up from breakfast at that point and caught Scorpius' eye, a clear sign to follow her out. He waited a few moments and then quickly followed her, hoping that people wouldn't put the pieces together. He found Rose waiting for him at the end of the hallway, and once he caught up to her she opened and empty classroom.

"What are we going to do?" She asked him. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors."

"Some of them. Apparently we are going to leave at the end of 6th year and go open a sweet shop in Diagon Alley." He told her.

"And here I heard we were training dragons in Ireland."

"I also heard that your father is going to kill me for dating you in order to avenge his inability to kill my father during the war." He said tiredly.

"Funny, I heard your father was tracking me down as we speak."

"Anything else?" he asked with a weary expression.

"Oh sure, you mean like my plan to murder your father? Or that you're involved in a huge plan to use me? Or what about the time when Acker walked in on us shagging and now I'm pregnant?" she said growing more and more angry.

"You're joking," he replied.

"Nope, apparently the school thinks you knocked me up. I cannot believe this. All of this work, and hiding, and secrecy, and now this entire school thinks we are some couple who murders each other's parents and shags wherever we bloody well feel like it!" She exclaimed and sat down on top of a desk.

"What are we going to do?" He asked.

"I'm not really sure. I guess we just pretend like we never heard any of these rumors? I mean, we can't exactly address the student body."

"But Rose, people are saying you're pregnant. That's a little extreme, don't you think? I don't know about you, but I don't really want our professors thinking that I knocked you up."

"Ugh," Rose groaned and leaned her head back against the wall. "I guess your right. But damn it, how are we supposed to tell everyone?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess we just deny rumors when we hear them. Try and spread the word as much as possible." Scorpius concluded.

"That's not really a plan…" Rose said.

"No, it's not. But what else can we really do?" Scorpius said to her. Rose shrugged and began to drift off into the land of thought, not really paying attention to what was going on anymore. What other solutions do they have? They could try to address the entire Great Hall, but that was extremely unlikely. They could post notices on the common room boards? Ha, that was just a ridiculous idea. How desperate that would seem, and so self-important.

Finally, she reached the conclusion that nothing could be done, and looked up at Scorpius. "I guess yesterday was just the calm before the storm huh?" She said with a sad smile.

"I think this is still the calm before the storm Rose." He said softly. "We haven't heard from my dad yet, the worse is still to come".

**So now everyone knows! Except we haven't heard from Draco yet... that'll be the next chapter :) Review? **


	38. Chapter 38

**Hello everyone! I feel like I've made this apology too much in this story, but I am so sorry for not updating this sooner. This is such a lame excuse, but life has been insane and I have barely been staying afloat as it is. Just to get this chapter up I had to stay up until three last night writing/editing. I know that doesn't seem possible, but every time I have attempted to sit down and write, something has gone wrong (I get interrupted, my laptop battery dies and I don't have my charger, I get horrible writer's block, etc.) basically, what this comes down to is that I am a terrible fanfiction updater and that I will try my very best to be better.  
Another reason that I am upset with myself: you all were so kind in giving me such wonderful reviews and I have yet to thank all of you individually. But I will, I intend to start after I post this chapter! But again, it's so rude of me and I apologize.  
**

**Enjoy :) **

Chapter 38

For someone who has always been modest, having the entire school wanting to know your personal life is never a comforting thought.

So as Rose walked down the halls for the first two days after the game, she was conscious of every eye staring at her wherever she went. She couldn't understand what was so damn fascinating about the way she went to a class, but apparently the rest of the school loved to annalyize her movements. Of course, the rumor mill was still hard at work. It hard to put a stop to words once they are out in the open, and Rose had noticed more than a few people staring at her who were clearly looking for a baby bump.

Rose was still in a state of shock about what happened, so she remained in a rather numb state. Scorpious, however, had never been more hostile towards his classmates. Rose knew that this probably wasn't helping their cause, but he was so angry that she didn't want to make it worse by telling him to stop. She, after all, was the only thing that had made him smile since the game.

But by Wednesday, the novelty of it all had begun to wear off. Yes people were still staring and talking, but now there were other topics to discuss. The exams that were coming, the couple that was caught snogging in the broom cupboard next to the transfiguration classrooms for the 5th time this month.

Rose and Scorpius had even begun to get a little hopeful that in a week or two, it might seem normal. But on Wednesday morning, any chance they had at that was blown away.

Rose and her friends were sitting at the Gryffindor table, enjoying breakfast and hearing Lily tell a story about Albus when he first stole his Dad's broomstick that was hilarious, when they heard a great silence from the Slytherin table. Normally, you can't really _hear_ silence, but the table became so quiet that the rest of the room hushed in antispitation.

Rose looked over to see what the problem was now when she realized what she saw. It was a howler, a green and black howler, which was about to burst open at the seams. Scorpius quickly stood up from the table and angrily stomped his way out of the great hall. He had only gotten past the door when the voice of a furious Draco was loudly projected in the Great Hall.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" His voice bellowed. "I am furious with your actions this term. Your disgrace to your family and your house will not be tolerated. How you have gone so wrong in such a short time I cannot comprehend. What I do know is that if you decide to return home at the end of the year, you will never see that filty half-blood for the rest of your life. If not, you will have an hour to collect your things before never seeing your mother and I again." The howler paused and the sound practically echoed off the walls. "You have betrayed everyone. I hope you can live with your choice." Rose could hear the fainter sound of the howler turning into shreds as it exploded. As quickly as the silence had come, it had disappeared. Rose could only imagine that the howler had confirmed half the rumors that had spread so quickly. Now even the teachers were talking amongst themselves over the outburst they had just heard. Rose was waiting for Scorpius to come back, but of course he didn't show. She quickly ran out the door and into the entrance hall, trying to find him. But he had disappeared.

She began to walk up and down hallways, searching in empty classrooms or hardly-used corridors. She had meant to work on her charms paper in her free block this morning, but she had decided against it. Instead, she went searching for her boyfriend.

She started thinking of the places he would go, attempting to guess his location. She walked to the library, the astronomy tower, the boathouse, the courtyard outside the great hall, and anywhere else she could think of. At last, she found him sitting beside the broom closet near the quidditch pitch.

"Hey," she said softly, as to not make him jump. He looked up slowly and gave her a small smile.

"Hey," he replied, and went back to playing with the grass.

"I think we need to talk," she said as she sat down besides him. She noticed the howler lying next to his jacket on the grass, ripped up but with the letter still intact.

"I guess I'm moving out at the end of term." Scorpius said to her.

"Maybe we could go try and reason with your dad, make him see that"

"No." Scorpius cut into her thought. "We can't. I can't. It's over."

"Between us?" Rose asked, terrified and shocked.

"No! No, god, of course not. Between my dad and me. We're done. I'll pack my stuff up at the end of the year and find some other place to live. Get a summer job or something."

"But Scorp, where will you go?" Rose asked him timidly.

"I dunno. I was thinking I might ask your uncle George if I could stay with him, live over one of the WWW locations and work there. It's not a perfect plan, but it could work short term. And it could pay for all of my books and such next year." He said somberly.

"I'm sure George would take you in with no problems. But I'm worried about you. This whole thing has taken such a toll, and with end of the year exams coming up I just don't want you to be distracted by this." Rose said softly.

"Well then distract me with something else," he said and then leaned in to kiss her. It was slow and soft, but filled with so much emotion that Rose started feeling faint.

"What was that for?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"When I kiss you, I feel like everything is right with the word. I wanted to feel that way again, even if it was just for a moment." He admitted.

Rose didn't hesitate; she kissed him again only more passionate this time, with more want and desire than before. However, after a short minute, Scorpius gently pushed her away. "They can definitely see us from the castle Rosie, this probably isn't such a great idea."  
She pulled back and rested her head on his shoulder, "you're right. I also might have to go to class soon, I spent so much time trying to find you that I'm pretty sure herbology starts in a matter of minutes." Rose said tiredly.

Scorpius looked at his watch, "we should probably start heading back to the castle, we have ten minutes and I have to make my way to transfiguration." He told her while he helped her up. The two of them walked hand in hand back to the Great Hall, before separating to their different common rooms. Rose grabbed up her materials for class and began to walk down to the greenhouses alone, appreciating the time without having to be pleasant to other people.

Rose was experiencing the strange but common feeling of wanting to be alone, but feeling very lonely once you were. So then you try to be with your friends, but find yourself wishing you were without company. She knew she was not the first of her friends to feel this way at some point, hell she had felt this way before. But she still felt lost all the same.

Rose made her way through herbology class without thinking much, the material was familiar and the repotting of flitterbloom was surprisingly easy. Her mind was far too occupied with other things that Rose simply couldn't shake; the image of her father's furious face, the voice of Scorpius' father still ringing through her ears, the feeling that the class was watching her every move, the pain in Scorpius' eyes. Everything was pulling her mind in different directions, and so she didn't even notice when Professor Longbottom told them they could leave class early that day to get a head start on their homework that evening. Before she knew it, the rest of the class was gone and Rose was still packing up her things.

"Alright there Rose?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"Not exactly…" she replied wearily as she attempted to shove her ridiculously large textbook back into her bag.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked her cautiously, pulling up a chair to sit beside her.

"I don't really know where to start these days," She replied, but sat down next him anyway. "I'm sure you've heard what people have been saying about me."  
"I, er, I try to not really" he admitted. "But, I have heard a fair amount as the teachers have been discussing it for the past few days."

"You're joking," she replied.

"Sadly, I'm not. I was hoping they'd take the high road and stay out of their student's affairs, but apparently that is not the case." The two sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Neville continued, "I am correct in assuming that none of that is true, yes?" He asked a bit nervously.

"Yes, merlin yes. All of it is a lie. Hopefully the pregnancy rumor hasn't reached the teachers yet?" Rose asked him.

"No, it has. It was one of the first ones I heard actually. Don't worry though, no one is giving it much weight beyond mindless gossip." He tried to assure her.

"Telling Ron went horribly," She told him out of the blue.

"How horribly?" He asked.

"He temporarily threw me out, and pretty much called me a disgrace." Rose said plainly as to avoid more tears.

"I'm so sorry Rose. No wonder you were distracted in class." Neville said as he pointed his wand at a nearby pot that someone had broken today and mended it.

"It's been extremely distracting. And then I'm sure you heard that Scorpius got thrown out too," she added.

"I did. That howler was one of the loudest ones I've heard since my second year at Hogwarts. Your father's, actually." He told her with a nostalgic smile on his face.

"Wait, my dad got a howler? From who?" She asked, surprised that she had never heard this story before.

"From his mum, he had taken the flying car because,"

"The train had left without them," Rose finished. "But he never told me he got a howler for it!" Rose said, smiling her now sporadic smile.

"Oh, it was awful too. His mum left him mortified for three weeks, everyone teased him for it." Rose and Neville burst out into laughter, Rose at the idea of her grandmother's voice in a howler and Neville at the memories of a clumsier, simpler version of himself.

Eventually, their laughter died down and left them sitting in thought. "What should I do?" she asked. "I just don't even know where to go from this."

"You never told me how Hermione took it," Neville said. "I couldn't imagine her throwing you out too."

"No, I think she'll try to work on dad too, but I haven't heard anything from her. And mum normally writes me once a week, so this is unusual." She replied somberly.

"Just give it time Rose. That's the only advice I can really give you. But your father is a stubborn guy, it took him seven years to realize how much he loved your mom. Give him some time to adjust; I'm sure he will. If you could have seen him on the night you were born, you'd understand that he loves you more than anything else in the world."

"Wait, you were there too?" Rose asked. She had heard the story of how she was born a few times, but only thought that Harry and Ginny were there.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you? You dad was on an assignment when Hermione went into labor, and Ginny happened to be having lunch with her in Diagon Alley and my apartment at the time was only a few streets away. And seeing as they couldn't apparate, Ginny ran down to get me so that we could call someone to get her to St. Mungos."

"You're kidding." Rose said. Normally, she wasn't a big fan of hearing the story of how she was born, but this was the first she had heard of any of this.

"No, the emergency bus, sort of like a slower version of the knight bus if you haven't seen it, came to pick her up from my apartment and then I went to go get Ron so he wouldn't miss you being born." Neville said nostalgically.

"Wow. So you were there with Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny?" She asked.

"Yeah. Anyway, I found Ron and he immediately aparated from his mission, without even hearing if I had called his boss yet, so he could have lost his job. But he didn't really care at that point, and a few minutes later her found Hermione and I'm pretty sure you already know the rest." He concluded.

"Wow. I had never heard that story, I just knew my dad had to be tracked down." She told him.

"Well, the point of the story is that your father was the happiest man I had ever seen when you were born. The only time I've ever seen him cry out of joy besides that moment was when he married Hermione. And he did a better job of concealing his tears then," Neville chuckled. "He loves you more than you could ever know. You just have to let him realize the mistakes he made first. You don't want to push him into believing something he doesn't, trust me."

"I just don't want to have him hating me like this. I've never felt this horrible in my entire life." Rose said somberly.

"Just give it time. Try your best to trust in the fact that he will eventually come around if you give him some space." Neville assured her.

She nodded as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Thank you, you know, for talking to me about all of this."

"Any time Rose. I mean it," He said with a comforting smile that Rose returned before leaving the greenhouse. She began to walk up to the castle while trying to digest everything that Professor Longbottom had just told her. Before going through the doors, Rose put all of her things on the ground and sat beside them, leaning against the hard, cold stone. She looked down on the Hogwarts grounds, taking comfort in the fact that for all six years that she had been here the trees always changed the same way. No matter what changed in her life, she could look outside and see that everything was the same.

And sameness was the only thing that made her feel calm anymore. Some times, when she couldn't sleep, she would count all the things in her life that will stay the same even after all of this is over. It wasn't exactly comforting, but it made her feel a little less uprooted. She began to count again as she stood up, bracing herself for whatever she would find inside.  
**What do you want to see next? Why don't you tell me about it in the reviews :) **


	39. Chapter 39

**Hello everyone! Did think you'd hear from me again, did you? :) I have a lot of apologizing to do, but feel free to skip my explanations and head straight to the (slightly short) chapter!  
****I'm really sorry I haven't published a chapter since October (wow, that's crazy even for me to say). So, let me give you a quick summary of why: 1. I got cast in a musical (Rent, as Maureen, if you are a thespian like me and know what that is!) which meant that I had a ridiculous rehearsal schedule from early november until very late February. For the first two weeks of March, I was busy catching up on all the work I had been putting off due to the tech week of our production. And then I went on Spring Break, where I had no wifi connect for two weeks. And now I'm finally back home and back in the normal schedule of things (and my birthday is the 21st, so getting excited for that too!)  
****But to be completely honest, I dedicate this chapter to The Original Horcrux, TomFeltonLovesx3, and ravenclawpride for messaging me and asking me where I was and why I wasn't writing. And that meant so much to me, because I honestly didn't think that anyone would even notice I was gone (even if it was for five months...again, really sorry). And so it's for them and all my other wonderful and kind reviewers that I publish this chapter and continue to write this story. I hope you enjoy. **

** P.S. I forgot to mention this when I published the last chapter, but I'm a beta on pottermore and I'm a hufflepuff...I really don't know what to do about my username now... **

Chapter 39

Three days had gone by and with each passing moment Rose and grown more and more tired of the stares she received. She started spending as much time as possible outside of the castle; visiting Hagrid, enjoying tea with Neville in the greenhouses, spending time in the room of requirement, and most often watching Scorpius fly around the quidditch pitch to blow off steam. The two of them had been trying to keep each other as calm as possible while they waited for the discussion about their relationship to die down. The rumors were still going strong, the letter from Draco fueling them significantly, and their only hope was to try and wait it out until it becamse less interesting. So far, this plan wasn't having decent results, but they didn't really have any other options.

But Scorpius couldn't always protect her from the glares of others, and she spent the rest of her time with one of her friends from Gryffindor house to guard her. That morning was one of them; Rose sat surrounded by her friends at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. As she was reaching for another pastry, a large letter was dropped onto the plate in front of her.

"Who's that from Rosie?" Lily asked.

Rose began to tear open the thick enveloped to find three pages of writing, smeared and scribbled out in places. Her eyes scanned to the end.

"It's from my mum. She finally wrote." Her family got quiet for a moment as they watched her begin to skim the letter. "I'm gonna go find some place to read this, excuse me." Rose said as she got up from the table in a bit of a rush, leaving the rest of her breakfast untouched.

She walked out of the Great Hall and went to find an empty classroom or something, as she wanted desperately to read the letter by herself. She soon found what she thought was a muggle studies classroom and decided to use it. She sat down on one of the desks, dangling her feet over the edge while her shaky hands opened the letter again. Rose began to read softly aloud to herself, imagining her mother's voice.

_Dear Rose, _

_ This is the 6__th__ letter I have tried to write to you. To be perfectly honest, every time I attempted to talk about what happened last week I couldn't find the words. I know that seems rather unbelievable, but your announcement has rendered me slightly speechless. So, even though this is less eloquent than I would like, I had to tell you at least what has been happening since you left. _

_ Your father lost it when you left. I haven't seen him that angry in a really long time, it was slightly frightening. He simply paced back and forth in our living room muttering for over an hour, unable to break the cycle of thoughts in his head. At one point, I couldn't watch him do that anymore and left. He never came upstairs, I found him asleep on the couch in the morning. After that he simply got really quiet for the next day, wrapped up in thoughts that he apparently couldn't voice. The next day was the most interesting. I watched him go through about 50 different emotions in one day. You think I'm exaggerating, but one moment he would be unnaturally optimistic and the next an annoying chirpy bird would make him cry. You actually hit him with that information at a bad time anyway; he was having a particularly unhappy week at work as it was. Day four was probably the one you would be most interested in as that was emotional unloading day. He decided that because he had kept everything bottled up, when he finally started talking he had to explode. And merlin, did he ever. _

_ I could explain to you the many emotional phases your father went through, but that would take more ink that I have left on my desk and might make you feel even more upset than I'm sure you already do. So, I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. _

_ Obviously right now the prevailing emotion is absolute fury. He's angry with everyone: you, Scorpius, Draco, Hogwarts, anyone who could have been involved. After that, he just felt betrayed. Like this was somehow a sign that we didn't parent you correctly, or that you were trying to hurt us. I obviously talked him out of that idea. Then he went into worrying about you. Worrying that Scorpius wasn't being a good boyfriend to you, worrying that you weren't happy. Worrying about how the other kids at school were treating you, which I found extraordinarily ironic given that he was your own father and he couldn't even have the decency to write to you.  
He hasn't yet reached a stable emotional place; it keeps changing. Some days, I think he's almost happy for you. But other's he enters this whirlpool of hurt that I've never seen anything like before. _

_ But Rosie, I can feel you tiring of stories of your father and wanting to know what my reaction was. After all, I know some of this won't come as a complete surprise because I am sure that you were expecting it to some extent. But please read all of this before giving up on it, because you might not like everything I need to say.  
Rose, to be perfectly honest, I'm disappointed. Disappointed that you never came to me. Disappointed that you lied for so long, and that you pulled other family members into your lie. Disappointed that you felt like just because you might not get the reaction you wanted then you weren't obliged to tell us. But mostly, I'm disappointed because I thought our relationship was better than that.  
Then there's how you told us. That wasn't ideal either Rose. The fact that you put it off for so long, and then only told us because it "couldn't wait any longer", and then to find out (again, not from you) that it was because Draco Malfoy was also finding out that night. This doesn't shed a positive light on this relationship in any respect, if anything it makes me more concerned. But, that is a different topic.  
Then there is the fact that it's Scorpius. While that idea shocks me, I must admit, I still believe that you are a good judge of character and feel I must trust your decision. I also must trust that he is treating you with more respect and kindness than any Slytherin I have ever met before, and if that is not the case then I am, once again, disappointed. _

_ But, as hard as this may be given what has preceded it, I am still happy for you Rose. I'm happy you have found someone who you love so much that you are willing to risk a lot of things to stay together with him. I'm happy that you seem to have found a strange match for yourself that makes you seem fulfilled and stable. But most of all, I'm happy that you are at least trying to integrate him into your family. Albus and Lily have both written home to Harry and Ginny this past week and they have managed to sway Ginny to the point that she is content with the relationship. And that must have taken a lot of effort, after Ginny had her daughter attacked by the Slytherins this past year. _

_ I'm sorry I could not provide more comfort in this letter to you; I wish I could. But until I come to terms with this a bit more I'm afraid this may be the best I can do. I promise to write to you again soon, I'm sorry this letter took as long as it did. _

_ Love, _

_ Mum  
_ Rose folded the letter quietly and stood there for a moment. Although she knew it could have been much, much worse, she still felt that horrible pit in her stomach. The one that made her feel like she did something horribly wrong even though in her heart she knew she hadn't. The word "disappointment" began to echo through the deep chambers of her hollow mind. She began to run her fingers along the hem of her skirt in her numb thoughts, and her head snapped up when she heard the door open.

"Hey you", Scorpius said soft as he walked into the stream of sunlight pouring in through the window. "I was looking for you".

"It's from my mom," she replied with a whisper.

"I thought so. To be honest, I was expecting a howler from your dad." He said with a sad smile.

"Eh, mum probably stopped that from happening. I'm sure she hid the howler stationary."

He gave a dark chuckle and sat down next to her. "Are you okay?" He asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I am. It's just tough, you know? Walking through the halls and knowing that everyone you pass is talking about you. I'm not used to it." She admitted.

"Please, you're the daughter of Ron and Hermione, you've gotten stares before" he said with a playful smirk.

"Yeah, but not for anything I actually did. This feels different." She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, "honestly, it's just tough to do it alone."

"Hey," he said softly, "what do you mean alone?"

"I mean, I have my friends. And they're great and supportive and lovely, but they don't really understand. Only you do, and even though everything is out in the open I still don't get to have you around all the time to make me feel stronger. And it's not like I need help, but it's just nice to have you around."

He turned to look down at her, "come on," he said and motioned for her to follow him out of the empty classroom.

"Where are we going?" She demanded with a hint of laughter to her voice.

"You'll see," he said with a smirk and began to pull her down the corridor, stopping in front of the great hall. He gave her a small, lovely kiss and whispered in her ear "trust me". She gave a small, slightly scared, nod and walked into the hall with him.

She had expected it to get old by now, but people still stared at her when she walked into the room with her "wretched" boyfriend. She looked at Scorpius, wanting him to take the lead, and he gave her a wink and took her hand, leading her back over to the Gryffindor table. Although instead of dropping her off and walking back across to his own, he nudged Albus. "I hear the pastries are sweeter on the other side," he said with the smirk. The noise of the great hall and dropped considerably, and to Rose the whole place had faded away and it was simply her boyfriend and the Gryffindors that she would forever be proud to call her friends.

**Review and let me know what you want to see next! Also because I miss all of you :) **


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